(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. All right, we're there in Philippians chapter number four. And of course, we've spent the summer going through the book of Philippians on Sunday mornings, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. And we find ourselves in Philippians chapter number four towards almost the end of this book that we've been studying together. We're not quite there. We'll probably have a couple more weeks before we finish the book, a couple more sermons out of Philippians chapter number four. But I want you to notice that in this passage that we're dealing with this morning, verses four through nine and also the passage we'll be dealing with next week, are probably the climax of this book in regards to the purpose of the book. If you notice verse number four there, you have one of the most famous verses in Philippians. Philippians chapter four has a lot of them. Of course, you have the, I've learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content, you have the, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. But in verse four, he says this, rejoice in the Lord always and again, I say rejoice. And if you remember, of course, we've been talking about this word rejoice. In fact, the series is called Rejoice. It's a verse by verse study through the book of Philippians. And what I've told you every week as we've looked at this passage is this, that the Apostle Paul is teaching us about joy and he's teaching us about Jesus and he's teaching us about the joy that can be found in Jesus. And of course, the theme is this word joy or rejoice. The book of Philippians is only four chapters, not a very long book, yet the word joy appears six different times. The word rejoice appears 10 different times in these four chapters and we're often being encouraged by Paul to rejoice, rejoice and if you remember, Paul is writing this while in prison. He's in a house arrest in Rome and he's teaching this church at Philippi to rejoice and he has a little bit of a climax here when he says rejoice in the Lord always and again, I say rejoice. And what Paul does is he gives us four steps in this passage in regards to how to rejoice in the Lord and isn't that what we all want? We all want to have joy in our lives. We all want to be able to rejoice in the Lord and I wanna quickly this morning give you four thoughts from this passage in regards to how to rejoice in the Lord or how to find your joy in the Lord, how to be able to live a blessed life, a happy life, a life in which you can rejoice and I wanna give you four thoughts and I'd encourage you to write these down on the back of your course of the week. There's a place for you to write down some notes. Let me give you four things from this passage this morning to rejoice in the Lord. Number one, to rejoice in the Lord, we must get along. To rejoice in the Lord, we must get along. The truth of the matter is this, that the joy of your life and the rejoicing in your life is going to be either helped or hindered by how you get along with people. We were created as social beings. We were created to live in communities. We were created to live in a community called the local New Testament church and how you get along with people is going to determine or your inability to get along with people is going to determine how much joy you have in your life. I want you to notice there, we're gonna just go back a little bit into verse number two. Notice what the Apostle Paul says in verse two. He says, I beseech Eudias and beseech Syntheke. Now these are two women, two ladies that are mentioned here in the book of Philippi and in the book of Philippians in the church of Philippi and Paul kinda calls them out by name and you know this is a big deal because of course the Apostle Paul is writing a letter to the church at Philippi and he is not writing scripture. We understand that. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. But these letters that Paul would write, they were meant to be read aloud in the church service. They were meant to gather the entire church family together and to read and to have this read in the congregation and here he's calling out two ladies by name. It would be the equivalent of me calling you out by name from the pulpit and saying like, well, you know, so and so and calling you out by name and talking about your problems. Now, you know, it's very rare. In fact, I can only think of one time in my entire ministry that I've ever called somebody out by name that's sitting in the congregation and when I was growing up, I had a pastor who would constantly be calling kids out. You know, and it was just this thing. If the pastor called you out during the service, your life was over. I mean, you knew that after the service, you're gonna get the worst thinking of your life. If the pastor had to call your name and say, hey, stop messing around stop doing this or stop doing that. But here we have Paul calling out these ladies by name. He says, I beseech Eudias and beseech Syntyche. Notice that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Apparently, these two ladies were not getting along. These two ladies were in conflict. These two ladies were having contention in the church. Now keep your place there in Philippians chapter four. That's our text for this morning, but go with me if you would to the book of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter number 11. And you've got a force out of the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter number 11. And while you turn there, let me just say this. Here we have the apostle Paul talking about these two ladies that are having problems. And I'm just gonna say this and you take this however you want. But 90% of the problems that we have in church are often is two ladies not getting along. Now earlier in my ministry, I used to think, it's an observation my wife and I had. And I used to think I shouldn't say that out loud because I'm gonna offend some of these ladies. But I've learned that some of you ladies need to be offended. You take that however you want and you take that however you'd like, but I'm just telling you the truth. 90% of the problems we have in church are two ladies not getting along. And here we have Paul referring to these two ladies not getting along. But the truth is this, that in church and in life, we're going to have conflict. 1 Corinthians 1, look at verse 11. Notice what the Bible says. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe. Notice again, a lady being called out for contentions. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe. And these are the people that are letting Paul know about this problem. Notice verse 11, that there are contentions among you. Sometimes there's going to be conflict. Sometimes there's gonna be conflict in church. Look, you can't be a part of a local New Testament church the right way. You can't be a part of a church that you're engaged in, that you're involved in, that you serve in, that you're faithful in, and not think that from time to time, you're not gonna rub somebody the wrong way, or they're not gonna rub you the wrong way, or you're not gonna have some sort of conflict or contention. The truth is this, that sometimes there are contentions in church, and in 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to the church of Corinth, and he's dealing with a lot of those contentions. Now, do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark, or your bulletin or something there in 1 Corinthians, because we're gonna leave it, and we're gonna come back to it. So I'd like you to be able to get there quickly, but go to Philippians chapter four again, and let's talk about how to deal with this conflict. What is it that the apostle Paul tells these ladies to do in order to solve their conflict? He says, I beseech Eudias, I beseech Syntyche. Notice what he says to them, verse two, that they may be of the same mind in the Lord. He says that they may be of the same mind in the Lord. Now, of course, the words same mind speak of unity, that they should have unity, but he says in the Lord, and I wanna remind you that the word mind should bring up a thought that the apostle Paul has already brought up in this book, because he's talking about these ladies that are having conflict, they're having problems, and he says, here's my advice, why don't you be of the same mind in the Lord? Now, again, that is speaking to unity, and people often say, oh, see, these ladies were supposed to get along and get united, and that's true, but I believe there's something deeper here that the apostle Paul is teaching us. He's not only teaching us that sometimes we have conflict, he's also teaching us how to deal with conflict. Because look, in church, you're gonna have conflict. You go to work somewhere, you work with other human beings, and you interact with them, you're gonna have conflict. If you're married to someone that's a human being, you're gonna have conflict, you're gonna have issues, you're going to have problems. You say, well, how do we deal with it? Well, notice, he tells us, he says, he says, be of the same mind, he says, be of the same mind in the Lord. Now, this should get us to think back to something that the apostle Paul already said in this letter to the Philippians. Go back, if you would, to Philippians chapter two. When he says, be of the same mind, I don't believe he's referring to, hey, you guys need to get on the same page, although that's great advice, and I do think we need to get on the same page. He's not saying you need to get on the same page for you to get along. Here's what he's saying. You need to get on Jesus' page. You need to get on the page of Christ. He says, be of the same mind in the Lord. See, in Philippians chapter two and verse five, here's what the apostle Paul said. He said, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. See, he's not telling them you need to have the same mind. He says, you need to have the same mind, which is the mind of Christ. He'd already told us, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, and now he's telling these two ladies who find themselves in conflict, he says, you need to resolve this conflict by having the same mind in the Lord. Now, you might ask, well, why? What does having the same mind in the Lord and this verse, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, have to do with conflict resolution? Well, you'll notice, if you look at the context, Philippians 2 five says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. He's referring to the mind of Christ and how it should be in us. Now, in verses six, seven, eight, nine, he explains how Jesus had a certain mindset, but in verses three and four, he explains the mindset. See, in Philippians two, verse three and four, he gives us the context that leads into verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So in verses three and four, he tells us how to have the mind of Christ and what does this have to do with conflict resolution, with getting along? Well, here's what it has to do with, has to do with the fact that if you're gonna get along with people, why would I wanna get along with people? Because it's the only way to rejoice. It's the only way to be happy. It's the only way to have joy in your life is to get along with people. You're not going to be happy in life when you're constantly butting heads and clashing with other people. The only way, look, you say, I thought if you were gonna preach a sermon on how to be happy, I thought you were gonna talk about first make a million dollars, then retire early, then go on a cruise. No, the Bible says if you want to rejoice, if you want to be happy, here's a secret to happiness, get along. Learn how to get along with people. You say, well, how can I get along with people? Because I'm constantly in conflict with people. I'm constantly having problems with people. Well, number one, you need to learn to be the bigger person. Like Christ. Look at verse three, Philippians two, three, and four. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. But in lowliness, that's humility, that's the mind of Christ. But in lowliness of mind, let each, notice, let each esteem, the word esteem means to think of or consider other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but let every man also, but every man also on the things of others. When he says look not every man on his own things, he said stop being concerned. Stop being concerned only with yourself. Stop being concerned only with your self-interest, but every man also on the things of others. Concern yourself with the interests of others. Learn to see things from the other person's perspective Esteem others better than yourself. Lower yourself, humble yourself, and that's the context in which he says let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Then he tells these two ladies that are in conflict, he says be of the same mind in the Lord. What does that tell us? Here's what it says. If you want to get along, you say I don't want to get along. Okay, well, if you want to rejoice, if you want to have joy, if you want to be happy, you're gonna have to learn to get along with people, and if you want to get along with people, one way to do it, the best way to do it is to learn to be the bigger person. What does that mean? That means you esteem others. That means you prefer others. That means you put other people first. You're not concerned with your rights, with what you deserve. You're not looking every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Now, what does this look like in conflict resolution? Go back to 1 Corinthians. Did you keep your place there? 1 Corinthians chapter six. 1 Corinthians chapter six. The Bible says we should esteem others better than ourselves. The Bible says we should prefer others better than ourselves. We should put other people first. We should love people the way we love ourselves. We're good at being selfish, but he says we have to be selfless. We have to love other people. Well, what does that look like in conflict resolution? 1 Corinthians chapter six. Notice what he says in verse six. Remember, Paul was dealing with conflict in the church at Corinth as well. Notice what he says. He says, but brother goeth to law with brother. Here we have a situation where Christians that were members at this church at Corinth are literally suing each other and taking each other to court. And Paul says, brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. He said, you're not having the church judge and deal with the situation. You're taking them to the world's court, a secular court, to have an unbelieving judge judge between you. You say, well, what's wrong with that? Well, look at verse seven. Notice how Paul feels about it. He says, now therefore there is utterly a fault among you because you go to law one way than another. Look, you know the Bible teaches that you're not supposed to sue your brother in Christ? Say, well, what am I supposed to do? How do I resolve conflict? Well, here's an idea. You esteem others better than yourself. You prefer others before yourself. Here's what Paul said in verse seven. He says, why do ye not rather take wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. You say, how can we get along? How can I get along with people at work? How can I get along with people at church? How can I get along with my wife or with my husband? Hey, here's one way you suffer yourself to be defrauded. Sometimes you just decide I'm gonna be the bigger person. They should have said that to me. They should have done that to me. They should have, however it played out, it was wrong. But you know what? Instead of rising up and claiming my rights and I'm gonna make sure that you pay and you get the, sometimes you can learn to get along with people by just saying, I'm gonna esteem you better than myself. I'm gonna suffer myself. The word suffer means I'm gonna allow myself to be defrauded. I'm gonna allow myself to be ripped off. I'm gonna take the wrong. Go to Matthew chapter five if you would. Matthew chapter five. Keep your place in first Corinthians, go to Matthew. First book in the New Testament, Matthew chapter five. Keep your finger in Matthew because we're gonna come right back to Matthew as well. Matthew five. Here's how Jesus said it on the Sermon on the Mount. Famous Sermon on the Mount, you know it. Matthew 538, notice what he says. Ye have heard that it has been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I want you to notice that Jesus is not talking wrongly or talking badly about that law. That's actually a law found in the Old Testament that God gave the children of Israel. What he's referring to though is that is a law, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is a law that the government is supposed to put into place in order to give justice because it's the government's job in order to punish evil, punish criminals, and give out justice. And Jesus is saying, there's nothing wrong with the government saying an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but there's something wrong with you bringing that concept into your marriage. There's something wrong with you bringing that concept into your parenting. There's something wrong with you bringing that concept into church life. He says, ye have heard that it has been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. He says, but I say unto you that ye resist not evil. He says, the truth of the matter is this, you want to hurt someone, that's evil, the word evil means to hurt, and you're not resisting that. But whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, here's what Jesus says, turns to him the other also. Somebody smacks you, slaps you. I don't know that I can think of maybe somebody spitting in your face. I don't know that I, you know, one of the rudest things somebody could do is slap you in the face. You know what Jesus says? He says, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turns to him the other also. He doesn't say, they hit you, you hit them. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. No, no, no, let the government do that. The government should execute judgment, but in life, in our personal relationship, you can't live your life that way. You say, why, here's why. Because if somebody slaps you, and you say, okay, well, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, you slap me, so I'm gonna slap you. Well, here's the problem. It doesn't end there. Because they think they were justified in the first, you know, you start talking to people about conflict, and it's like, who started it? Who started the argument? Who started the fight? Well, she did when she said, well, he did when he said, and everyone's always justified in their own eyes, and the problem is this, that if we start recompensing evil for evil, there's no end in sight. I'm gonna smack you because you smacked me. Well, I'm gonna punch you because you punched me. Well, I'm gonna kick you because you kicked me. Here's the problem. At some point, someone's just gotta take the hit. Someone's gotta say, fine, I'll be the bigger person. I'll esteem you better than myself. Notice there's 40. If any man will sue thee at the law, take away thy coat, and take away thy coat. Somebody's suing you to take away your coat, let him have thy cloak also. Here he's saying, look, somebody wants to sue you for your coat, give him the coat and give him the cloak. You know what Jesus is saying here? Money is not anything worth fighting over. Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain, give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow thee, turn not thou away. Say, how can I have joy in my life? Suffer yourself to be defrauded? You say, no, no, no. If I suffer myself to be defrauded, if I turn the other cheek, I'm not going to be happy, I'm gonna be upset. But the secret that Paul wants to give you and I is that actually you will find joy in your life when you be of the same mind in the Lord, when you have the mind of Christ Jesus, when you become like Christ, because if you remember Christ who was sinless, Christ who did nothing wrong, Christ who did not deserve death died for you. He preferred me, he preferred you, he esteemed us better than himself. And this brings joy. This brings joy in our lives. This brings joy in our relationships. Let me just quickly show you something though real quickly. Go to Matthew chapter 18, you're there in Matthew five, just flip over to Matthew 18. Obviously, there are times when this is not gonna work. Now, like the children of Israel, it's not that it doesn't work because God's word doesn't work. When God's word doesn't work is because you and I aren't applying it properly. You've heard me say this in the past. Spiritual people take a big matter and make it small. Carnal people take a small matter and make it big. The best way to get along with people is to be spiritual. The best way to get along with people is to be right with God. The best way to get along with people is to have the mind of Christ, to suffer yourself to be defrauded, to turn the other cheek, to be the bigger person. However, we don't always deal with mature people, unfortunately. We don't always deal with Christians that are spiritual enough to say, I'm gonna turn the other cheek. So Jesus gives us a way to deal, because sometimes things cannot be resolved by looking over a fault. There are some things that have to be dealt with, and Jesus gives us a process for that. Matthew 18, look at verse 15. Moreover, if thy brothers shall trespass against thee. In Matthew 18, Jesus gives us a process. This is for church. And by the way, I'm showing you this because this is what they were supposed to do in the Church of Corinth instead of taking their brother to court. Instead of taking their brother to law, they were supposed to go through this Matthew 18 process. What is it? Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee. The word trespass means to sin against you, wrong you, to do something wrong against you. Here's step one. Go and tell his faults all over social media. Is that what it says? Go and tell all the other ladies in the church. And spiritualize it, of course. I'm gonna tell you this so you can pray for Sister Sohn, so let me tell you what she did. No, that's gossip. What are you, are you supposed to deal with conflict? Go and tell him his fault between thee and him, here's the operative word, alone. If he shall hear thee, thou is gain thy brother. By the way, that's why we do it, is to gain a brother. But if he will not hear thee, you go to him and say, hey, you've wronged me, you've sinned against me, and they don't hear you. Then what do you do? Okay, now we can go tell the whole church and gossip to everybody about it, right? No. Then, here's step two, take with thee one or two more. You find spiritual Christians, mature Christians, and you bring them, leadership in the church, of course, and you bring them as witnesses, then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. Let me tell you something. The number one thing, whenever my wife and I, because in ministry you're often accused of all sorts of stupid stuff, people are just constantly just accusing you of, you said this, you said that, you did this and you did that, and we have just found the fastest way to squash that, when somebody says, you said this. Here's what I always say, let's bring everybody together. Hey, I got nothing to hide, let's bring everybody together and let's just all talk about it. And immediately everybody's like, no, no, let's not do that, let's not do that. Okay, well, if you don't wanna bring everybody together, then don't accuse me. You don't wanna bring everybody together, don't accuse my wife. Because we're happy to say, hey, you said, we said this, is that true? All of a sudden when you bring everybody together and shine a big light on it, all of a sudden everybody's like, no, no, we're cool, we're cool, we're good. By the way, this is why this is the process that Jesus gave. Because he knew that most people are not going to want to bring all the witnesses and well, let's, well, wait, exactly what did you say and how did you say it and then why didn't you tell this person that he said this or that she said that? Look, we're supposed to live in the light. Men love darkness rather than light, the Bible says. Why? Because their deeds were evil. Be careful about the person who wants to hide everything. Be careful about the person who doesn't wanna meet, who doesn't want to confront, who doesn't wanna bring things to light and here's what I'm telling you, you don't wanna bring things to light, that's fine, but don't go around telling people, accusing people. He says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. You say, okay, what if you do that and that doesn't work? Step three, and if they neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. But if they neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and as a publican. You know this process ends with church discipline where people actually get thrown out of church for having unresolvable conflict and obviously this is not what we want in church life but the point is this, that you will not have joy in your life until you learn to get along. So Paul says, I want you to rejoice in the Lord. I want you to rejoice in the Lord always. Keep your place there in Matthew, we're gonna come back to it, go back to Philippians. He says, well, how are you gonna do that? Well, first thing, we gotta solve this problem with these two ladies. You've got to have the same mind in Christ Jesus. What's the mind of Christ? To esteem others better than yourself, to prefer others better than yourself, to be the bigger person, to take the hit, to turn the other cheek, to suffer yourself to be deprived. Then Paul says this, notice in verse five, he says, let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. He says, you wanna be happy, you wanna rejoice, you want joy, here's step number two. Step number one, to rejoice in the Lord, we must get along. Step number two, to rejoice in the Lord, we must not worry. Notice what he says in verse six. Now, you tell somebody, don't worry and it's like, okay, well, how do I do that? What does that mean? Paul actually gives us three thoughts or three steps to how to not worry. You say, what are they, what are they? Number one, he says, be careful for nothing. Look at verse six, be careful. The word careful here means to worry or to have anxiety, to have care about something. He says, be careful for nothing. He says, you say, I wanna have joy in my life, okay? Get along with people, got it, what's next? Don't worry, we must not worry. Well, how do I do that? Be careful for nothing, be anxious of nothing. Don't worry about anything. And the idea is this, you have to stop thinking about the things that make you worried. Matthew chapter six, if you kept your place in Matthew, Matthew chapter six. You say, well, I don't understand, should I not worry about the things that could possibly go wrong? Here's the thing. You should worry or take thought or prepare and plan and execute the plan for the things that you have control over. And here's the interesting thing. When you prepare and plan for the problems that you have control over, you don't worry. You just execute. What we like to worry about is the things we have no control over. Well, what if, what if, you know, Joe Biden falls asleep in the Oval Office and accidentally presses the red button and nukes all of us, you know? Or what if this or what if that? Well, here's the thing. You don't have any control over that. You should worry about the things you can control. And in the other areas, we just have to stop worrying about it. Matthew 633, but seek ye first the kingdom of God. That's what you can worry about. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. He says, you do what you can. And then what about the rest? Verse 34, take therefore no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Here's what he's saying. You got enough things to worry about with the things that you can control. Don't worry about what's gonna happen tomorrow, what's gonna happen next week, what's gonna happen next year. He says, don't worry about what you can't control. Be careful for nothing. You say, okay, here's the thing though. I control the things that I can control. Then I have all these other things that I can't control. The economy, coronavirus, my job situation, the future of this and the future of that. What do I do with that? Because you're saying don't think about it, but I can't stop doing that. I keep thinking about it. Then Paul says this. He says, to not worry, you must be careful for nothing. And then he says this, pray about everything. Philippians four, look at verse six. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. When you begin, what if every time you began to feel anxious, you began to be overcome with worry? What if every time you began to worry about something, you asked yourself, can I control that? And if the answer is yes, then you take the steps to control it. You take the steps to deal with it. And if the answer is no, you immediately turn that into a prayer. You say, oh God, all this spiritual talk. Really, is that really gonna work? Listen to me, at some point in your life, you're going to have to come to the place where you're willing to hand over the reins of controlling the universe to God. And say, God, here's the truth. I can't do anything about this. What if, what if, what if, what if? I don't have any control over all those things. So I'm just gonna put it in your hands. He says, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God. You say, how do I not worry? Because Paul says, you want to rejoice? To rejoice, we must not worry. Well, how do I do that, Paul? He says, hey, be careful for nothing. Don't, the things you can't control, don't worry about it. Well, what do I, how do I do that? Pray about everything. The things you can't control, relinquish them back to God, and say, okay, God, I can't control this, so I guess I'm just gonna have to let you. Isn't that what we've been learning in the book of Job? Isn't that what the last two chapters in the book of Job have been about? Job has been complaining about the things that have happened in his life, the things that he doesn't have answers for, the things that he cannot control. His friends have been accusing him, his wife has been accusing him, and life has been accusing him, and God shows up and says, hey, I'm in control. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Can you feed the animals? Can you control the universe? Do you run the world? And look, at some point, you and I are gonna have to just say, I actually believe that God is in control, and that if God allows things into my life, then God allows them for a reason, so I'm just gonna not worry about it. I'm not gonna think about the things that I can't control, and if I feel an urge to think about them, I'm gonna turn them into a prayer request and deliver them to the God of the universe. Then he says this. He says, not only be careful for nothing, he says, not only pray about everything, he also says, be thankful in all things. Look at verse six. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. You know there's always something to be thankful for? And look, these thoughts, go with me if you would to 1 Thessalonians. You're there in Philippians. You have Colossians, and then the book of 1 Thessalonians. Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians. All of these thoughts go together. You say, I wanna rejoice. Okay, rejoice, pray, be thankful. They all go together. If you're going to have joy in your life, you're going to have to learn to get along with people. If you're going to have joy in your life, you're going to have to learn how to deal with your worry. I understand there are things that burden us. There are things that concern us. There are things that frighten us and scare us. But we have to give them to God, and then we have to be thankful. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16. Notice these statements. Notice how they're all clustered together. 1 Thessalonians 5, 16. Rejoice evermore. That's what we've been talking about, right? How to rejoice? Pray without ceasing. That's what we've been talking about, right? And everything give thanks. All these things are clustered together. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. What is the will of God for your life? To rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing, and everything give thanks. I brought this up to you multiple times. You've heard me say this. But I want to remind you that it doesn't say to be thankful for everything. It says to be thankful in everything. I can't be thankful for this situation that happened in my life. I can't be thankful for that. Well, I understand that. You were never told to be thankful for everything, but you were told that in everything, we can give thanks. And you might not be thankful for everything, but you can be thankful in everything. Because there's always something to be thankful for. I'm just, look, I'm just trying to tell you how you can rejoice, how you can have joy. To rejoice in the Lord, we must not worry. How do we do that? We must be careful for nothing. We must pray about everything, and we must be thankful in everything. I've read this to you in the past, but I'd like to read it to you again. It's an illustration. Matthew Henry is a man that lived in the 1600s and 1700s. He's best known for a six-volume biblical commentary that he wrote, which I am not endorsing. I just thought this was an interesting story. There's a well-known story of Matthew Henry that is a helpful illustration of how to be thankful in everything. After he had been mugged one day, he went home and wrote in his journal. He was walking down the street one day, and he was robbed. They took his wallet, they took his money. He went home, opened his journal, and he wrote these four statements. He wrote, number one, I am thankful I had never been robbed before. Number two, I am thankful that although he took my wallet, he did not take my life. Number three, I am thankful that although he took all I had, it was not much. Number four, I am thankful that it was I who was robbed, not I who was robbing. The truth is this, that we can be thankful in everything. If you look, you'll find something to be thankful for. You say, I got nothing to be thankful for. You're not looking hard enough. The fact that you have the breath to have those words come out of your mouth show that you're not looking hard enough. There's always something to be thankful for. Go back to Philippians chapter four. We're talking about how to rejoice. How do we do it? To rejoice in the Lord, we must get along. Sometimes we have conflict, and we should deal with that conflict the way that Christ would deal with that conflict. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. We must not worry. How do I do that? Be careful for nothing. Pray about everything. Be thankful in all things. Number three, how to rejoice in the Lord. So to rejoice in the Lord, we must think right. To rejoice in the Lord, we must think right. Notice the apostle Paul says in verse seven, he says, and the peace of God. Doesn't that sound nice? The peace of God? The peace of God which passes all understanding. Understanding has to do with your thinking. It has to do with the thinking of others. Here's what I'm telling you. Sometimes we look at Christians and their lives are falling apart. We look at Christians who are going through hard and difficult times in their life. We're talking about godly, spiritual Christians and you wonder, how can they go through that with such joy and such contentment and light? It's because their thinking is right. See, the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. By the way, let me just say this. The peace of God and peace with God are two different things. In the Bible, the phrase peace with God is a reference to salvation. We get saved and now we have peace with God. Just because you have peace with God does not mean that you have the peace of God. The peace of God has to do with your thinking, has to do with your understanding, with your mind. Say, how do I get it? Well, we must think on the right things. Notice verse eight. Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. We wanna think about the evil, right? Jesus said take no thought for the moral, for the moral shall take thought for the things of itself sufficient unto the days the evil thereof. We wanna think of all the bad things, all the negative things. Well, what if this happens? What if that happens? What if this goes wrong? What if all these bad things happen? And Paul says, look, if you wanna have joy in your life you gotta control your thinking. You gotta think right. Why do I have to think right? Here's why you have to think right. We must think right so that we may do right. You know what the Bible says, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh? You know what the Bible says, that out of the heart proceeds all sorts of evil, adultery, fornication, all sorts of wrong, all the sin that we have ever been involved in, all the wrong choices that we've ever made, they all came out of our heart. You've heard me say this before. I'm not trying to beat up on you. I'm kind of picking on you, but here's the truth. Here's what I know about you. And I may not even know you at all, but I know this about you. Every sin, every mistake, every regret, everything you've ever done, the things you're embarrassed about, the things you hope people forget about, the things you hope people will never bring up to you, the things you hope that no one will ever find out, all those things, here's what I know about you. You were the mastermind behind it. You made the choice. You made the decision. You allowed your heart, you followed your heart like a Disney movie. The problem is the Bible says that your heart is wicked, desperately wicked. Who can know it? The problem is that from our minds come all the wrong ideas, all the wrong thoughts. So Paul says this, hey, we must think right so that we may do right. Proverbs 23, seven, you have to turn that. I'll just read it for you. Proverbs 23, seven says this, for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. See, your thoughts lead to actions. Your thoughts lead to feelings. You feel the way you feel because you think the way you think. You do the things you do because you think the way you think. So Paul says we must think right. Paul says we must begin to think on the right things. And look, it's so simple, it's embarrassing that we have to teach these things, but the Bible says that our minds need to be renewed. The Bible says that our minds have to be, we have to have a new way of thinking. See, you and I need to understand this. Where we find ourselves in life, with all the issues or problems or the things we don't like about our lives or whatever, where we find ourselves in life, we got there by the way we thought. Our mindset got us there. And it is silly to think that your mindset will get you out of it. So Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed. You know, I want my life to be transformed. Here's how it happens. By the renewing of your mind, you gotta start thinking differently. You gotta start thinking in a way that you haven't thought before. Because the way you, look, the way you've thought before created the actions that you took before that got you to the place where you currently are. And this is what crazy people think. They think, I'll keep thinking the way I was thinking before, I'll keep doing what I was doing before, but somehow the results are gonna be different. They're not gonna be different. This is why I tell people, hey, you know, don't get divorced. Oh, no, no, I'm gonna get divorced because I'm not happy with this one person. And if I can just find the right person, well, here's the problem. You're the wrong person. It's you. And if you go marry 20 different people, and if you continue to act and think the way you do, you'll bring the problems with you. Your mind has to be renewed. And by the way, you say, I'll renew my mind and I'll be different. Then you can make it work with the one you're with. Amen. Look, I'm just saying, people, I just need a new job. And I understand sometimes people need to get new jobs. I understand that. But this idea that we're just searching for something new, something different, if I could just live in this house, if I could just ride this car, if I could just be married to this person, if I could just have this career, if I could just make this much money and have these things, none of that is gonna make you happy. Because the problem, and I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, is you. And the problem is me. So we wanna rejoice in the Lord. We need to change. We must think right. Why? Because when we think right, we do right. And then Paul says this, Philippians 4, look at verse nine. He says, you wanna rejoice in the Lord? So rejoice in the Lord, we must get along. To rejoice in the Lord, we must not worry. To rejoice in the Lord, we must think right. Then he says this, to rejoice in the Lord, we must do right. Notice what he says in verse nine. Those things, those things. What things, Paul? Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me. Paul says, I've been your spiritual leader. I started the church in Philippi. I've been writing to you. I've preached to you. I've taught you. I've laid an example down for you. He says, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me. And he says this. Some of you need to underline this in your Bible. You need to circle this word in your Bible. He says, those things, Philippians four, nine, which ye have both learned. Hopefully you go to a church where you're learning something and received. Hopefully you go to church where you're receiving something and heard. Hopefully you go to church where you heard something and seen. Hopefully you go to church where you have a pastor and a pastor's wife that have tried to give an example of what Christian living should look like. Have seen in me. Here's the key word. Do. Those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me, do. And the God of peace shall be with you. How do you get the God of peace with his peace to be with you when you learn? No. When you receive? No. When you've heard? No. When you've seen? None of those things are gonna help you till you actually do. See, coming to church, listening to preaching, having a pastor, none of that helps you unless you actually do what we're telling you to do. He said, you need to do those things. I've been coming to church now. I've learned a lot. Why is your life still a mess? I mean, people say this. I've been learning a lot. My life's still a mess. I've received a lot. My life's still a mess. I've heard a lot. My wife still hates me. I've seen a lot and it's still, you know, my kids still don't like me. My wife still hates me. My husband hates me. My coworkers hate me. Well, maybe you should, I'm glad you've learned. I'm glad you've received. I'm glad you've heard. I'm glad you've seen. But maybe you should start doing. It only works. I always think it's funny. People, we're coming to church because our marriage is falling apart. We wanna try to fix our marriage. Hey, praise the Lord for it. But this is not a magical building. It's not like we found this deal, this magical building next to the meth clinic. It's gonna fix all your problems. Going to church doesn't fix anything. You say, what does going to church do? You come here to learn what you're supposed to do. And what you do will bring peace. What you do will bring joy. What you do will help you rejoice. Go to James, James chapter one. We'll finish up here, James one. James 1, 22. The Bible only works when you do what it tells you to do. Preaching only works when you do what you're told to do. Bible reading only works when you do what you're supposed to do. It's so simple, yet it's a common theme of our church because if there's one truth that I could just download into the minds of believers is this, it doesn't matter how much you know if you're not doing it, it's not gonna help you. Because here's the truth. Your life is a result of the choices that you've made. Some of you need to write that down and just look in a mirror and say that. I'm not saying right now, okay? We're not a Pentecostal church. But look in a mirror because you have problems with taking responsibility. You need to grab a mirror, look at it, and say, I am where I am in life because of the choices I've made. The sum total of your life, the result of your life are the results of the choices. Life is just choices. It is the choices that you have made. And Paul says, if you want to be happy, start making better choices. James, notice what he says, chapter one, verse 22. Be ye doers of the word. Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only. Oh, pastor, let me tell you, I've heard all those sermons. I mean, on YouTube, I binge watch all the sermons. Well, praise the Lord for it. I'm glad you have, but hearing the word is not enough. You gotta be a doer. But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Look, when you come to church like this and you hear what you're supposed to do, but you don't actually do what you're being told to do, you're only deceiving yourself. You're only cheating yourself. For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like, and I love this illustration because here James says, look, let me tell you someone who reads the Bible and doesn't do what the Bible tells them to do, someone who goes to church and doesn't do what the preacher tells them to do, someone who seeks counsel and doesn't do what the counsel tells them to do, someone who tries to get Christian influence and doesn't do what the influence tells them to do, he said, this is like the type of person you are. He is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. We would call that a mirror. He's like, he says, he is like a natural. He says, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in the glass. You see what natural there? Okay, that's for the ladies because it's not after it's all done up. This is what you actually look like. Like when you wake up in the morning and you look in a mirror, that's what he's saying. Look, I know, I wake up in the morning, look in a mirror, and I think to myself, that ain't right. Something's gotta get fixed there. And he's saying, look, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. He's saying, look, you look in a mirror, what's the point, what's the purpose of looking in a mirror? Now, some of you that are vain, you don't know what the point is. But the point of looking in a mirror is not to look in the mirror for the sake of looking in a mirror. The point of looking in the mirror is to look in the mirror and say, oh, my tie's not straight, which I don't know, is my tie straight? Oh, I've got a piece of broccoli in my teeth. Oh, I've got sleep goop in my eyes. Oh, you know, I've gotta brush my hair. Oh, I need to do this. The purpose of looking in the mirror is not to look in the mirror, it's to look in the mirror and do something about it. And here's what he says. For if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto man beholding his natural face in a glass for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was, but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed. You see that word blessed there? I want the blessing of God in my life. I want the joy, I want the peace, I want to rejoice. Well, don't be a forgetful hearer. It's like looking in a mirror saying, wow, I got a lot of things to work on there. Well, and then you just forget about it. No, see, you come to church and we hold up the mirror of the word of God and we say, look, this is what God thinks about you. This is how God sees you. This is reality. This is why your life's a mess. This is why you're having these problems. This is why you're having these issues. Here's how you got, we put this mirror up. You're supposed to look at it and say, oh, yeah, I see. Let me fix that. Let me work on that. Let me stop that. Let me start that. You will only be blessed. You say, I want to rejoice. And look, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, I want to rejoice. The only way to rejoice is to actually do what the Bible tells you to do. Otherwise, there's really no point. Paul said this, go back to Philippians real quickly. We'll finish up. Philippians 4, look what he says. Rejoice in the Lord. You see this word, all way? I like how our King James Bible used that word, all way. Because you can take it two different ways. And there is a specific definition. But you can take it as saying all ways, like all the time, or all way, the entire way. Here's the point. You can live a life of joy. Paul, in the book of Acts, he said that he finished his course with joy. Look, you know that you can be married for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, and finish that with joy? Right, you can be a soul winner for 20, 30, 50 years, and finish that with joy. You can live the Christian life with joy. Whatever career God's called you into, whatever ministry you're doing, you can do it with joy. Rejoice in the Lord all way. He says, and again, I say, rejoice. So how do we do it, Paul? Well, you're gonna have to learn to get along. You're gonna have to stop worrying, be careful when I think, pray about everything, be thankful in all things. You're gonna have to think right so that you can do right. And you're gonna have to apply what you've learned from the Word of God. And that's how you will be blessed, happy, have joy, rejoice in your life. So like Paul, I wanna challenge you this morning. Rejoice in the Lord, all way. And again, I say, rejoice. That's why I had to now go to prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word, thank you for the Bible, thank you for these lessons you've taught us. Lord, I pray you'd help us to apply them to our lives. Lord, help us not to be like a forgetful hearer who comes to church and hears things but doesn't do them, doesn't actually apply them. Our joy, our happiness, our amount of blessing will be dependent upon how we apply the Word of God. How we apply the Word of God will help us get along with people, help us not to worry, and help us to think right, to do right. I pray you'd help us to rejoice. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.