House of Hope Online

December 3, 2023

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In Philippians 4, the Apostle Paul gives a simple, but effective formula for success:

Philippians 4:

 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

 5 Let your forbearing [spirit] be known to all men. The Lord is near.

 6 Be anxious for nothing, 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 comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

For you lovers of math out there, here is the formula that Paul has written for us:

Rejoice + Forbear + Pray + Ask humbly + Give Thanks = Peace of God

With all that is going on in the world today, many of us lack the peace of God, so Paul’s formula has important benefits to us.  Verse 7 promises that the peace of God will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Guarding our hearts is especially significant today, as the devil tries to drag us into battles that increase bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice.  How does he do that?  By showing us the increase of evil in the earth.  He knows that gets to us, makes us angry (righteous indignation), causes wrath and malice towards those who carry out his agenda.

That is why Paul gave us the simple formula.  Rejoice in the Lord always.  Have a forbearing spirit and make it known to all.  Pray and ask with thanksgiving.  And then, the peace of God will guard us.

Can you rejoice always?  Can you rejoice while terrorists are attacking Israel?  Can you rejoice when you lose your job?  Or when you get unwelcome news from the doctor?

We talked a couple of weeks ago about Habakkuk 3 where the prophet promises to exult in the Lord and rejoice even in the face of economic lack.  We called that worship warfare because we effectively battle the devil with the strength of God’s army when we rejoice in the God of our salvation in the middle of difficulties.

So, Paul is saying: “Rejoice always!”  Even when times are tough, rejoice, nonetheless.  And then forbear.  Forbearance is interesting because it means refraining from exercising your rights.  So, if someone sins against you, you have the right to retaliate, but instead you forbear.  You give them grace; you forgive them while the devil wants you to hold a grudge and to hate them.

The expression “forbearing spirit” in the KJV is “moderation” and the Greek word for moderation means mild, gentle, patient.  The opposite of a forbearing spirit is an aggressive, vindictive spirit that is opposed to giving grace or extending forgiveness.

So, Paul is exhorting us to be moderate, mild, gentle, and patient as part of the formula for receiving the peace of God.  It is interesting to me that Jesus also referenced this need for moderation when He gave us the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.

Matthew 5:

 5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. (NASB)

In the King James Version, Matthew 5:5 is:

Matthew 5:

 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

The Greek word for “meek” means mild, or by implication, humble. 

Webster’s definition of “meek” is:

• Enduring injury with patience and without resentment
• Deficient in spirit and courage: submissive
• Not violent or strong: moderate

Do you see the connection between a forbearing spirit and meekness?  They both involve moderation, mildness, gentleness, and patience.  Neither characteristic is celebrated or highly esteemed in our society.  But Jesus is teaching us that a forbearing spirit is meekness, and meekness is not weakness.  Meekness is really a strength because it endures injury with patience and without resentment, just as He did on Calvary.  And in Matthew 5:5, Jesus promises us that the meek are blessed and will inherit the earth.  If we want to inherit the earth with Jesus, we need to ask the Holy Spirit for His forbearing and meek spirit.

So, let us get back to Paul’s formula:

Rejoice + Forbear + Pray + Ask + Give Thanks = Peace of God

So, how do we pray and ask with thanksgiving?  Easy.  If we need healing, we say: “Thank You Lord, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that You are our Great Physician who heals us!  We pray for a touch in our bodies in the awesome name of Jesus!”  Or, if we lose our job, we thank Him that He has a plan for us for good and not for calamity, and we pray for His plan to come forth in Jesus’ name.

Praying and asking with thanksgiving involves speaking His word back to Him, which strengthens us and expresses our faith in His word.  We are telling Him that we believe His word is true and His promises are true.  Jesus often told the people who were healed that their faith had made them well.  Therefore, praying and asking with thanksgiving will make us well by bringing the peace of God.

Philippians 4:7 is the second half of Paul’s equation, and it explains what we get if we rejoice always, forbear, pray, and ask with thanksgiving:

Philippians 4:

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We get the peace of God, which surpasses our comprehension, which means we will be at peace in stressful circumstances where others are stressed.  The peace of God is healing to us because it will guard our hearts and minds.  My daughter Laura recently researched the Greek meaning of the expression “will guard” in Philippians 4:7. She found that the Greek word for “will guard” means that God will actively use whatever defensive or offensive means are necessary to guard our hearts and minds.  God’s peace will actively defend our hearts and minds from anxiety, confusion, fear, strife, and sickness.  God’s peace will go on the offensive if necessary to attack those maladies as well as jealousy and anger.  Laura’s blog, which includes an awesome worship song and video, can be found by clicking here: Who Are You? – Another way through The Way (wordpress.com).

With our hearts and minds guarded by the peace of God, we can react differently than unbelievers to world events or personal stress.  With guarded hearts and minds, we can lay aside our old self, our fleshly nature, and follow Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 4.

Ephesians 4:

 17 ¶ This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way,

 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,

 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

 24 and put on the new self, which in [the likeness of] God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

 25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH, EACH ONE [of you,] WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.

 26 BE ANGRY, AND [yet] DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity.

 28 Let him who steals steal no longer; but rather let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have [something] to share with him who has need.

 29 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such [a word] as is good for edification according to the need [of the moment,] that it may give grace to those who hear.

 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

 32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (NASB)

The references to hardness of heart in verse 18 and tender-heartedness in verse 32 reflect the peace of God operating in us and actively defending our hearts.  And the reference to unbelievers’ futility of mind in verse 17, and the renewal of the spirit of our mind in verse 23 again speak to the power of the peace of God actively operating in us.

If we rejoice always, forbear, pray, and ask with thanksgiving, then the peace of God will actively guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  The resulting peace of God will actively guard against hardness of heart and futility of mind and darkness of understanding.  Instead, we will be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and will put on the new self, created in righteousness.  We will instead speak truth and let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and all malice to be put away.  We will, with guarded hearts and minds, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven us.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for the formula that leads us to Your peace, which guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  By Your Spirit, give us a forbearing spirit that controls our emotions and allows us to be meek, moderate, mild, gentle, and patient in the face of adversity, as Jesus was at Calvary.  Thank You, Jesus, for actively guarding us against hardness of heart, futility of mind, and darkness in our understanding.  Holy Spirit, help us to put aside all bitterness, wrath, anger, and malice.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.