Christ's Supremacy Over Anxiety - [Philippians 4:5-7]

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Greetings, and a special greetings from my wife, Nicole, and our,
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I think we have four kids now. Yeah, we have four kids now. It's hard to keep track. My wife says we're done.
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So that's it. They couldn't come this time with me because we just got here, actually, a couple of weeks ago from India.
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And so they're recouping on the West Coast. And we just thought it was wise just for me to come this time.
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So they sorely miss being here. And they wanted to say hi. Also, as well, greetings from Jeremy and Andrea Smith.
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I know you know them. And you love them, as well, from this church. And they are with us in India, serving in Goa, India.
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And you can keep praying for them, as well, especially as they face some new challenges with visa restrictions.
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If you get their prayer update, I'm sure you're aware of some of those things. And also, greetings from our seminary, the
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Pastoral Training Seminary, which is our main ministry. We've got our biggest enrollment of students this year.
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And it's now up to 29 students. That's a big change from the first year, when we had four.
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So it's tremendous to see how God is working. 29 men that we're training, as God has sent them to us.
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And then to go out and see churches started in different parts of India, and really, even in Southeast Asia.
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Because we've had the opportunity now to impact even Burma and Nepal, now most recently.
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So it's just encouraging to see what God is doing. And it's really His word and Christ that is the force that's behind all of this.
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It's not us. That is contagious. You can't stop it. Like Spurgeon used to say, you don't need to defend the word of God when you're thinking about apologetics or anything.
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You just let it out. It's like a lion. You don't defend lions, do you? So unless you're crazy.
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But that's the word of God. And that's what God is doing through the Pastoral Training Seminary.
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We have some prayer cards. This is the end of my commercial here. They're at the table.
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So do pick up one. We covet your prayers for the work that we're doing. And also, even though Nicole wasn't able to be here, she's a pianist.
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And I'm just a music appreciation guy. But she's really the musician in our family. And she put together a
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CD of some hymns that really have blessed her and encouraged her instrumental.
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And there's a CD of that as well outside if you want to pick one of those up. Well, I'm here to bring you
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God's word because there's nothing more transforming than the power and the truth of God's word.
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And so if you would, I've been preaching through several books, the book of James and Philippians.
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As Mike said, we're committed to verse by verse. Even in India, God is using that in our people's lives in Cornerstone Community Church, which is our church in Goa.
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And I was sharing with the Sunday school group this morning. Some of our men, they work on ships because we're in a coastal town.
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And they're out sometimes for six months. And I remember one of the guys, when he came back from his posting, he said,
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Sammy, I want to keep listening to preaching even when I'm on the ship. I have an internet connection.
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You've got to get your sermons on the web. So we've got a website out there. And we've got our sermons on there.
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And it's my joy to just share with you something that God used in my life and in our church's life from the book of Philippians as we were working through it recently.
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So if you would turn to Philippians chapter 4. And my text for this morning is
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Philippians chapter 4, verses 5 through 7. Philippians is a great book. I think, as you know, joy is definitely one of the,
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I would say, subplots or subthemes. I think, really, the key issue in Philippians, though, is the supremacy of Christ.
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And that when Christ would become so supreme that he would be even more precious than life itself to you, like he was to the apostle
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Paul, 121. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain because it's
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Christ. Then anything that you would face in life, any challenge, any trial, would just fade away because of how much greater
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Jesus is than those other things that you would face. And that comes to the forefront in so many ways, both theologically, but I think even as Paul gets to the end in chapter 4, and he's just giving a series of loving exhortations to this church, to us, he's bringing it to sort of a practical forefront.
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And that's what we find in verses 5 through 7. It's a great passage. I love going through these familiar passages because there's always great new truth to learn.
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But follow along with me. Philippians 4, verses 5 through 7. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.
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The Lord is near. See, Jesus is at the center of Paul's thinking. Verse 6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
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And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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You know, we live in an age, just humanly speaking, that is an age of uncertainty, isn't it?
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In India, we say the three main verbs that drive India is hurry, worry, and curry.
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Just all the stress of life, and some people have added on to that then a third one, and bury, because it just drives you to the grave.
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And I know there's an economic crisis that's been going on here in the States for a while.
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In India, it's affected us in different ways. And there's just a sense of uncertainty, even in Christians' lives, isn't it, about the future, about your bank account, about your children, about just the various issues of life.
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I know, even from my visit here, I've been here for two weeks, but just talking to various people on the
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West Coast, I've just come from the West Coast, it seems like more people have lost their jobs than I've ever heard of in the past.
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They're not calling it a depression yet. One of my friends was saying, a recession is when your neighbor loses your job, and a depression is when you lose your job.
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And they're not calling it that yet, but it's definitely an age in which there's a greater need for Christians to show the supremacy, as Paul is speaking of, of Jesus Christ, not just when the sun is shining, not just when we can say, great is thy faithfulness, because there's so many blessings in my life, but even as you work through the storms of life, can you shout out, can you praise, and can you say,
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Jesus, you are supreme, you're enough. That's the walk of faith, isn't it?
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That's the difference between being in the light and being in the darkness. How do we live like that?
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How do we have a faith that's not just a faith in the good times, but a faith that can even stand in the midst of things that should make us anxious, real things that should make us anxious?
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There's two resolutions of faith that Paul gives us in this passage that can help us to destroy anxiety.
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I don't know, even this morning, if some of you are facing some very real challenges. I'm sure in a group this size that somebody, even today, needs to apply this passage and say,
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Lord, I want to take this anxiety that is gripping my heart and destroy it, because you are enough.
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You're real, even in the midst of that anxiety. And so by the grace of God, let me remind you again,
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Christian, I can't change you, but Christ is changing you. Let me remind you again of how sufficient
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Jesus is, how supreme he is, even in your anxiety. And let me challenge you and exhort you to make these two resolutions.
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And the first resolution is found in verse 5. And I would state it this way. You know, it's interesting to me that many people don't see verse 5 as connected to verse 6, but it's really connected.
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It's the beginning of this whole section where Paul is concerned about how Christians fight anxiety.
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And verse 5, I would summarize in the first resolution in this way. It's calm your heart,
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Christian. Calm your heart through the sovereignty of Jesus Christ.
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You see, it's always connected to Jesus in Paul's mind. Calm your heart through the sovereignty of Jesus Christ.
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You know, the first human response to trials, to anxiety, and I think in this passage we find out, you know,
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God understands the heart better than men do. And psychologists do. But the first human response in anxiety, and I tend to be this way, is to get agitated.
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My wife always is telling me to chill out, you know? And there's a lot to get agitated about, even in good things, in raising my kids, and in being a good husband, and being a pastor.
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And one of the things that I do is I pace. I'm pacing right now. It's not because I'm anxious, but I tend to pace.
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I tend to be a guy that always is trying to through, just maybe even wearing out the floor to get rid of my problems.
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It doesn't. It makes me more tired. But, you know, I just had to try. And maybe some of you are that way with anxiety.
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The first response that you have is to just get kind of agitated, and move around, and try and get busy doing something, to try and escape the stress of life.
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And that's why Paul says in verse 5, even as he starts thinking about this issue, and the
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Philippians were facing a lot of stress, most significantly because of Philippians 1 .29,
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just persecution in a Roman environment, suffering for Jesus Christ.
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And he said, Christian, don't respond by getting stressed out and worried. What does he say in verse 5?
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Let your gentleness, your calmness, I would say, be known even to your unbelieving neighbor that is fighting and striving against you.
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Don't respond with stress. Respond with a supernatural, Jesus -produced calmness.
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Let your heart be calm. That's why
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I say, calm your heart, Christian. Jesus is sovereign.
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You know, I think this is illustrated well in a recent incident that I had.
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Even in India, we had some Muslim neighbors. And for some reason,
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I think they found out I was a Christian, and I was even a pastor, and they took it upon themselves to just be kind of spiteful and kind of mean towards us.
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And they would play loud music, you know, really early in the morning, loud
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Bollywood Hindi music, and all kinds of things. And at one time, I was away on a ministry trip, and there was even a big fight and shouting fest the lady of the house had with my wife when
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I was gone. And we were praying for them and trying different things.
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They wouldn't even speak to us. And I remember one day, my daughter was in...
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The seven -year -old daughter, Hannah, was in the kitchen baking with my wife. And as she was baking, and I was sitting in the living room, she turned to my wife and she said,
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Mommy, you know, our neighbors are really mean to us. I think we should take some cookies over to them today.
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I was just, you know, wow, where is this girl getting this from? It's great to see your children learning these lessons.
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So we didn't even dare go with my daughter, but we sent my daughter over with a plate of cookies over to our neighbor's house.
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And, you know, she knocked on their door and she says, Auntie, I've got something for you.
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And I remember the lady who was specifically mean to my wife just a week ago, she just squealed in pleasure, reached out and hugged my daughter.
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And it was like for the next week, we had an amazing relationship with them, and then it degenerated again because they weren't saved.
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They need to get saved. But, you know, that's the kind of reaction that is only possible in the gospel that we can have even in the midst of real stress and real situations that should drive you sometimes to craziness.
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Paul says, be calm, be calm. It's like a, if you will, a lake even that's got winds blowing on it.
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It's got storms blowing on it. That's the picture I think that Paul is using. And yet it's clear, it's like glass.
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Not because of what's happening outside, but because of Christ that is in that heart, that is reigning over that heart, that is supreme over that heart, that you through the eyes of faith are able to even look through your circumstances and say,
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Jesus is greater than my greatest financial trial, than my greatest family trial, than my greatest relational trial.
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I'm going to look through those things and I'm going to see that Jesus is greater and I'm going to through faith be calm.
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I may not have all the answers and faith is that way, isn't it? But I know the answer.
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I know Him who has the answers. And that's really the resolution of this verse because we've got to ask
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Paul, we've got to say, Paul, how in the world can I be calm? You don't know some of the things that I'm going through,
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Paul. Actually, Paul went through worse stuff than any of us could even imagine if you look at 1
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Corinthians 11. But he gives us the reason why and it's not something that is possible in our own strength.
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See, the book of Philippians is about the supremacy of Christ and see how Paul ends this verse.
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Let your gentleness be known to all and he doesn't have a because but I think it's implied in the verse.
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He just puts this pillar here so that we would know that we are not alone. Know where this gentleness comes from and it only comes from the heart that is regenerate, only from the heart that knows
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Christ. And Paul says this, the Lord is near. Now, I stated it in this way.
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I said, calm your heart through what? The sovereignty of Christ. Let me explain myself.
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Some have said, when they're looking at this phrase, the Lord is near, that this is speaking of the second coming of Jesus Christ and praise the
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Lord. He's coming soon, right? No man knows the time, no man knows when and the reason that that is, is because he can come anytime.
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Anybody that says that Jesus is coming at a certain date is wrong because Jesus can interrupt my sermon.
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Jesus can interrupt your day today and you should live like that, like Jesus is coming any day. But I don't think that that's the emphasis of this phrase at this point, even though that's true.
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Because this word for nearness, agnus, is a word that can be used for time or temporally when it's used with an event, okay, like the coming of Christ or the eschaton of Christ.
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But it can also be used in another way when it is used of a person speaking of his presence, speaking of his power even, if you will.
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And I think that's what Paul is speaking of when he says the Lord is near. He's not saying the coming of the
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Lord is near as he says in other places, but he's saying what? Be calm because Jesus is near to you especially as a
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Christian when you're walking through those valleys of the shadow of death even. He's near to those kinds of situations.
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He's near to those kinds of Christians, right? Isn't that true? Didn't he promise that to us, the last words when he was leaving?
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Lord, I'm with you always, even to the ends of the ages. And there is a presence and there is a sweetness to the presence of Jesus Christ that Paul experienced that he's speaking of here that only the
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Christian can experience and especially the Christian that's going through stress can experience in a greater way than any other time in their lives that Jesus is near to those kinds of people.
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Have you experienced that? You know, my kids love to memorize scripture and song.
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We've got kind of this program with them and one of their favorite verses is Psalm 34 verse 18. And I think
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Paul is echoing that exact verse here where it says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
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You know, I think sometimes we can experience what Paul was talking about here because we try to control our lives.
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Again, because of not being calm, pacing around. And when we don't let
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Christ take control, of course, he can take control at any time. Sometimes he just wants us to come to the end of ourselves.
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Just a few months ago, I had to put Nicole on a plane and I have sired four different people depraved kids, you know, and I had to put her on a plane with those four kids by herself.
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I wasn't able to travel with her at that time and she was pretty stressed out and I was stressed out and I didn't know what to do except to pray and say,
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Jesus, help. Have you ever been in situations like that? I pray that my wife will survive, you know, physically and spiritually.
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She called me, you know, after she finished with her flight and she said, you know, Sammy, it was amazing.
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She said, I got on that plane and the first thing that happened was this German man in India, I don't know what a German man was doing in India, came up to me and said, you know, your daughter looks exactly like my daughter and I'm going to take it upon myself because you're all alone with these four children to make sure that you don't have to carry any bags and that you just are able to relax and look after your kids.
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And then another couple heard him and got convicted and they said, we're going to do the same thing.
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And she said, Sammy, this was the most relaxed flight I've ever had in my life because you weren't there.
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But you know, it was one of those reminders, the Lord is near and sometimes because I'm in the middle of things trying to be the big guy,
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I don't see Jesus at all times and in terms of his greatness and in terms of his supremacy.
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And that's a small thing, I know. But it was a good reminder of the fact that Christian, if you fight the fight of faith, not in your own strength, but you look to your savior who is infinite, who is powerful, who is able to defeat the forces of hell and Satan on the cross and in your heart, can he not handle the small struggle that you have?
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Can he not? Of course he can. Calm your heart through what?
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Not yourself, through the sovereignty of Christ. But Paul goes on further, you know, because I think there's a second reaction sometimes we can have to anxiety.
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The first one is that of getting sort of stressed out and just trying to do a lot of things to solve your problem instead of trusting in Christ.
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But there's a second response that the sinful heart has and that's to just do nothing and get paralyzed.
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I don't struggle with this a lot, but I know there are people that do. And they go through stress and all they want to do is through the burden and the oppression of all of that is just curl up in bed and put the blankets over your head and maybe not wake up for a couple of weeks till this problem goes away.
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Have you ever been like that? Or just sit at home and watch TV for hours on end or just eat chocolates.
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I don't know what your cave is, I don't know what your refuge is, but some people are like that and that's the sinful heart too of not being responsible and trying to retreat and trying to hide.
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And Paul exhorts us and says, Christians, stop sinning. The first way you can sin is by trying to be too sovereign.
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But the second way you can sin is by trying to be too relaxed and just give up and say it's not my fault.
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It's not worth it anymore. Don't do that. Don't do that, Christian. No matter what you're going through,
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Christ is able to give you the strength that you need and that's the second faith resolution.
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It's found in verses six and seven. And it's this. Kill your concerns.
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Kill your concerns. How? Jesus is sufficient.
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That's really the whole focus of what Paul is saying in verses six and seven. He said Jesus is sovereign through the
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Lord is near, but now he's going to say Jesus is sufficient and he can provide in ways that you can't imagine specifically through prayer and through peace.
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That's what he's going to unpack for us in these verses. There's a lot here. I don't have time really to get into all of it, but I just want to give you sort of the big picture.
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Jesus is sufficient. See, it's not just about prayer, but who are you praying to? All religions pray, but the thing that's different for Christians is not that we pray, but it's that we pray to a
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God who is living and alive and able, Jesus Christ, right? Amen. That's why we can have confidence in trials.
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Jesus is sufficient. And prayer is not just some, you know, airy just request that you throw out there, but he actually provides.
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Sorry. And he provides in peace.
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God is, and I want to give you this as a guarantee. I'm not a word faith preacher, okay? And I'm not going to say
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Jesus is going to give you a car or a red Ferrari or anything, but I know for certain that he is going to provide always when you pray because that's what it says in verse seven.
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He's going to provide peace. And let me unpack this for you.
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Paul says, be anxious for nothing. And the reason why I say that that's a concern that cripples and a concern that burdens is this word, literally is a word for being pressed and being weighed down and being sort of crushed, maybe even with a burden of your worry.
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And it's been sitting on your head for so long that you just kind of are down to the floor, maybe even eating mud flat out because of the weight.
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And sometimes worry and anxiety can be like that. It can be a real weight, not just a word of caution for you.
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I don't think that every time the Bible uses this word, it speaks against it. And this word in and of itself is not necessarily sin.
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In fact, I would say to you, it's good to be concerned. If you're not concerned and you're just kind of whatever, my kids are just going to get saved.
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I don't really care about it. They end up in disaster. Or you're not concerned about providing for your family.
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That's going to be sin as well. You're worse than an unbeliever, right? I had a friend that lost his job in the
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West Coast and he said he had a good job for 20 years as an insurance guy. He lost his job. He said,
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I am going to make sure that my wife doesn't have to work to provide for our two kids. And he got a job custodial just so he could provide.
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And I say, praise God. He's a godly man because he's concerned and that concern led him to do some godly things.
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And Paul even uses this word in 1 Corinthians 11, 28. He says, I'm concerned for the churches and that's not sin.
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So what becomes sin then? You know, concern and even godly concern can become sin when
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I just hold it to myself and I refuse to let Jesus take care of it.
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That's when it becomes sin. I refuse to let Jesus be the one that is sovereign even over my concerns.
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That's when it becomes sin. And when I just hold it on my heart and I just put it in my mind, what happens to me?
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I die. I get paralyzed. And what the Bible says is be concerned but 1
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Peter 3, 7 or it's 5, 7. Cast your concerns, cast your burdens upon the
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Lord because He cares for you.
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And that's when concern can become godly when we're constantly taking those concerns and putting them on Christ's shoulders because He is the one that cares for you.
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Amen. And so that's what Paul is saying. He's saying kill those concerns, take those concerns and just put them upon the shoulders, the strong shoulders of your
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Savior. Because He's sufficient. Now the first way in which
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He's sufficient is through prayer. And let me just unpack what Paul says for us about prayer. There's three ways even in which
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Paul teaches us to pray that can show us the real sufficiency and sweetness of prayer during those times of great stress.
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And I would say to you, Christian, maybe one of the reasons why your stress is just killing you today is because you're not taking it in prayer to the
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Lord. And there's something very real and something really practical that Jesus will do in your life and in your heart when you start taking those concerns to Him ten times a day, a hundred times a day, how much ever it bothers you,
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He always is available and able to listen because He never sleeps or slumbers.
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Now why is prayer so surreal and practical? Paul teaches us three things about prayer and really three ways in which we need to pray that can show us its sweetness and its sufficiency.
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Three words really that I would give to you about this prayer that can kill our concerns. The first thing about it is it's found in these words that Paul uses for prayer but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving.
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So it's prayer, supplication, thanksgiving. Just look at those three words. The first word, prayer.
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It shows us that we need to pray dependently, dependently because this word literally refers to the idea of prostrating yourself and bowing down yourself maybe with even your head to the ground.
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It was used for people when they would approach a very high dignitary and just not even dare to look at his face because he is so great and they are so small and he has everything that they need and that's the way in which we approach
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Jesus Christ. We just say, I'm naked, I'm destitute Lord and you have all that I need in your person, in your righteousness and in your sovereignty.
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All that I need is in you Jesus. I'm not going to run to Egypt. I'm not going to run to my wife. I'm going to run to you first.
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You see? And so the first way in which prayer can really make you strong is by giving you again through faith a sight of the sweet sufficiency of Jesus Christ.
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So we need to pray dependently. Secondly, we need to pray specifically and that's found in the word supplication and that's the idea of taking real requests and saying,
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Jesus, I have want in this area. Jesus, I have want in that area.
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Jesus, I have lack of faith in this area and really pouring out your heart really specifically to him in specific ways.
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I just want to take a short break here. I teach theology. And you know, this is sort of curious to me.
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When I first looked at it again, it sort of struck me and I was thinking, now, hang on a second.
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Why do I need to tell Jesus specifically what I need and what I'm struggling with? Doesn't he know everything already?
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He says that, right? I know all your requests even before you make mention of them in Matthew chapter six.
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So why do I need to go to Jesus and even tell him specifically what I'm going through? Does God need to be informed about what
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I'm struggling with? Does God actually change and grow through my prayer?
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What's the reason why Paul is saying we need to go specifically in supplication before God in our trial?
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The Bible is very clear about this, right? Malachi chapter three, verse six. I, the Lord, do not change.
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I know all things. And so prayer doesn't change
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God. And the reason why we need to go specifically before God is not because God needs to be informed or God needs to change, but it has to do with changing who?
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Me. You know, let me illustrate this. There was something that happened to me many years ago when
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I was in college that kind of reminded me of this principle here. I was at the master's college and as an international student,
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I had no funds, no money. And I was going through, in my mind, a great trial at that time.
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And I was doing the very ungodly thing of telling nobody about it and just sort of being concerned and paralyzed.
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And my father and mom visited me during that time. And we happened to have the opportunity to go out for a dinner with the
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MacArthur's. And John MacArthur is the principal of the school that I was going to. And so as we're having dinner, he turns to me and he says,
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Sammy, how are things going? And I didn't want to lie. I didn't say anything.
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And then my dad spoke for me and talked about just some of the specific struggles that I was going through.
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And it was interesting. The first thing that Pastor John said to me, and I'll never forget this, he rebuked me. He didn't encourage me.
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He rebuked me. He said, you know, Sammy, you do not have to ask because you do not ask.
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He quoted from James chapter 4. And I realized that the reason why
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I wasn't being specific was because I was prideful. The reason why
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I didn't even want to say to people what I was struggling with was I didn't want anybody to know how falling apart
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I was at that time. I wanted to be this super cool, super spiritual guy, which was the last thing
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I was. And it's good for you, Christian, not even necessarily.
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This is what Paul is saying. To go before your neighbor or your brother and expose yourself to them.
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That's not what Paul is talking about. But he's saying in prayer, you know, one of the greatest things that happens to you is you get to be honest and real about your total brokenness before him who really matters.
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And that is your Savior, Jesus Christ. Not because he needs to know, but you need to say it.
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You understand? And the Christian that is broken really understands the sweetness of this in prayer.
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Isn't it? Some of you maybe even are experiencing that right now. That's why prayer is so sweet.
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Because there's no better person to expose your brokenness to than your loving Savior. Amen? You need to pray dependently.
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You need to pray specifically. You need to pray submissively.
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Look at the last word. It's just strange. It's like it knocks you in the head. You know, it says in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving.
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And you're going, but God, you haven't answered my prayer yet. That's not important,
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God says. Why? Because Thanksgiving is not based on the gifts that God gives us.
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You see, that's what Paul is teaching us. But Thanksgiving is based on the certainty that God will always do good.
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Sometimes, actually all the time, better than what I asked for. And so even before you get your answers, as you're praying right now, you need to let out a burst of praise at the end.
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That's what David does in the Psalms. He's going through the biggest trial and he's saying, hallelujah. And you're, David, what's wrong with you?
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Well, he's saying, it doesn't matter. I don't even need to be delivered, but I've just spent time in the throne room of God and I've understood for the first time as a child of God, that He is always good.
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Always. Even when I'm dying, He's good. And He's able to even sovereignly take my trials and make them in His sovereignty, something that will promote
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Christ in my life. Because in the end, it's about His glory, not me. And I'm just going to submit in prayer right now and just shout out a hallelujah.
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And say, praise God. Not for the trial necessarily, but for the fact that you are near to me in the trial.
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And I'm going to submit to you. You see why prayer is so great? Isn't that a good reminder?
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Dependently, specifically. And I'm just scratching the surface right now. There's so much more here. That's the greatness of the
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Word of God. Now, one last thing about the sufficiency of Christ that can kill our concerns. Not only is prayer a real vehicle through which we can experience the sweetness of Christ, but there is, like I said, always a way in which
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He provides. He always provides. And He will always give you in your trial, what?
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Verse 7. Peace. Isn't that what we need? Doesn't God know exactly what we need?
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And it's written there in the scriptures for all time, that the Christian that goes to God really, in the way that Paul has taught us in prayer, is the
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Christian that will get exactly what he or she needs in that crisis. And that's peace.
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Praise God. I can say this dogmatically. He always answers prayers of broken
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Christians. Always. Maybe not in the way that you want, but in the way that you need.
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Through giving you a greater appreciation and a sense even of your peace that you have in Jesus through the cross.
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That's the greatest peace of all, isn't it? And it says it's the peace that surpasses comprehension.
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I just have to add a little note onto this because as I've heard many commentators and preachers preaching on this, they say, well, you know, it's the kind of peace that you just, it flabbergasts you.
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You can't understand it. You can't explain it, but it's peace. You know, it's peace. And I don't think that's what this truth is saying here.
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I don't think it's some kind of nonsense peace that you can't explain. In fact, the language, the
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Greek is saying it's the peace which is not outside of understanding. That's not what it says. What is it saying?
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It's the peace that goes beyond or above human understanding.
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That's not to say it's irrational, but it's the kind of peace that is biblical.
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It's scriptural. It's the kind of Isaiah 55 piece of my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.
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And God says that kind of peace through the promises of scripture, through the truth of scripture that is not your thoughts, but it's
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God's thoughts begin to fortify your mind literally like a soldier. And that's the language that guards your heart and keeps out doubt and keeps out fear and keeps out anxiety and says you stand outside the heart of this
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Christian believer. I am going to give him or her peace. It begins to protect you and fortify you.
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That's what it says, right? It will guard your hearts, your affections and your minds.
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Again, in Christ Jesus, in who he is, it's all centered in who he is and what he's done as your savior, as your
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Lord, as your redeemer, as your sacrifice. You get focused on that in a great way. Let me illustrate this for you.
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Again, because I think we need to make this vivid. A few years ago, I was traveling with Phil Johnson back from India and I've had an opportunity to do that several times.
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I know he's been here a couple of weeks ago, right? Don't ever travel with Phil Johnson. There's always going to be some kind of natural disaster that will follow you if you go on a trip with him.
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Sure enough, we're on this plane, Singapore Airlines, and just to cut this story short, we had an announcement on the plane saying we're going to speed up and land in Canada instead of LAX.
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And they started searching our bags. They refused to let us get out of our seats. And so Phil, using his skills of persuasion, asked one of the stewardesses, and we found out that there had been a note, actually two notes put in the bathroom saying the plane was going to blow up in a couple of hours.
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Somebody had placed some bombs on the plane. This was before 9 -11. And so we were all under house arrest, and we were probably going to fly straight to the
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Celestial City instead of LAX, as far as we knew. And I had Phil and I had a team of about eight high schoolers sitting around us.
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And it was an amazing situation to be in and to really see, you know, this passage come to life.
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And all we could do at that point, really all we could do at that point, we were allowed to get out of our seats and preach the gospel and have a revival church.
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We were under arrest. All of us were under suspicion was to just pray in small groups.
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And I held the hand of Clyde, who was this high schooler next to me, and there was Patty Schott next to me as well.
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And we just prayed, Lord, we don't know what you're doing through this. We praise you that you're in control.
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And we just ask that you would guard us and help us to trust in you during this time. And as I finished praying,
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Clyde turned to me and said, Sammy, isn't this wonderful? And I said, what's wrong with you,
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Clyde? He said, no, Sammy, isn't this a great thing?
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I said, I don't understand. I don't follow. He said, you know, this is such an amazing way for me to end my life.
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I said, what are you talking about? He said, I just got to preach the gospel for two weeks to school kids in India.
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And now I get to go to heaven and see Jesus. I can't think of a better way to end my life. And I started weeping, you know, because it was from the mouth of babes that I was able to see the peace that passes understanding.
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It's not a nonsense piece, but it's a peace that is just supernatural in terms of the biblical understanding, the eternal understanding that even this high schooler could have in this situation that was able to say,
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I will not fear. Jesus is supreme. My life is wrapped up in him.
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He's better than life itself. We didn't die. And I'm here today as testimony of that.
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But the more important thing is that even if we died, it would have been great.
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That's Christian hope, isn't it? That's Christian hope. And I don't know what you're struggling with today, but through the
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Holy Spirit and by the word of God, I want to say to you, there's no struggle that a Christian can go through.
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First of all, that's uncommon, but there's no struggle that a Christian man or woman can go through that Christ is not supreme over.
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Don't turn to men. Don't turn to yourself. Turn to him and God will produce in you a peace and a faith that can get you through anything.
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Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you for its encouragement. Lord is so strong in drawing us to your son and showing us how your son is powerful in our lives.
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Jesus, we thank you for the way in which you are not a God who is far off, but you're a
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God who is near, especially to the broken, especially to the faint -hearted, especially the weak.
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I pray this day, you would even encourage these people here. I don't know what they're struggling with, but I know that as your children, they can stand as lights, as blazing lights against a dark sky, even in the way in which they face trials, so that in the end,
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Lord, people would look at us and see you, not us. And that's our prayer. In Jesus' name, amen.