Prayer, The Cure for Care

Prayer, The Cure for Care

(No. 2351)

A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, MARCH 11, 1984.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY
12, 1888.

"Be careful for nothing; but in everything, by prayer and supplication,
with thanksgiving, let your requests be made kno wn unto God. And the
peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6, 7.

We have the faculty of forethought, but, like all our faculties, it has
been perverted, and it is often abused. It is good for a man to have a
holy care and to pay due attention to every item of his life, but,
alas, it is very easy to make it into an unholy care and to try to
wrest from the hand of God that office of Providence which belongs to
Him and not to ourselves. How often Luther liked to talk about the
birds and the way God cares for them! When he was full of his
anxieties, he used to constantly envy the birds because they led so
free and happy a life. He talks of Dr. Sparrow, Dr. Thrush and others
that used to come and talk to Dr. Luther and tell him many a good
thing! You know, Brothers and Sisters, the birds out in the open,
yonder, cared for by God, fare far better than those that are cared for
by man. A little London girl, who had gone into the country, once said,
"Look, mamma, at that poor little bird. It has not got any cage!" That
would not have struck me as being any loss to the bird–and if you and
I were without our cage, and the box of seed, and glass of water, it
would not be much of a loss if we were cast adrift into the glorious
liberty of a life of humble dependence upon God!

It is that cage of carnal trust and that box of seed that we are always
laboring to fill, that makes the worry of this mortal life. But he who
has Grace to spread his wings and soar away–and get into the open
field of Divine trustfulness–may sing all the day and always have this
for his tune–

"Mortal, cease from toil and sorrow; God provides for the morrow."

Here, then, is the teaching of the text–"Be careful for nothing." The
word, "careful," does not now mean exactly what it did when the Bible
was translated. At least it conveys a different meaning to me from what
it did to the translators. I would say that we should be careful. "Be
careful," is a good lesson for boys and young people when they are
starting in life, but, in the sense in which the word, "care-full," was
understood at the time of the translators, we must not be careful, that
is, full of care. The text means, be not anxious–be not constantly
thinking about the needs of this mortal life. I will read it again,
stretching the word out a little, and then you will get the meaning of
it–"Be care-full for nothing." Oh, that God might teach us how to
avoid the evil which is here forbidden, and to live with that holy
carelessness which is the very beauty of the Christian life–when all
our care is cast on God, and we can joy and rejoice in His Providential
care of us!

"Ah," somebody says, "I cannot help caring." Well, the subject,
tonight, is to help you to leave off caring or worrying and, first,
consider, here, the substitute for care. Be careful for nothing, but be
prayerful for everything–that is the substitute for care, "prayer and
supplication." Secondly, note the special character of this prayer
which is to become the substitute for anxiety–"In everything, by
prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known unto God." And then I hope we shall have a few minutes left in
which to consider the sweet effect of this prayer–"The peace of God,
which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus."

I. To begin, then, here is, first, THE SUBSTITUTE FOR CARE OR ANXIETY.

I suppose it is true of many of us that our cares are numerous. If you
once become careful, anxious, fretful, you will never be able to count
your cares, even though you might count the hairs of your head. And
cares are apt to multiply to

those who are care-full and when you are as full of care as you think
you can be, you will be sure to have another crop of cares growing up
all around you. The indulgence of this evil habit of anxiety leads to
its getting dominion over life, till life is not worth living by reason
of the care we have about it. Cares are numerous and, therefore, let
your prayers be as numerous. Turn everything that is a care into a
prayer. Let your cares be the raw material of your prayers and, as the
alchemists hoped to turn dross into gold, so you, by a holy alchemy,
actually turn what naturally would have been a care into spiritual
treasure in the form of prayer! Baptize every anxiety into the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit–and so make it into
a blessing!

Have you a care to get? Take heed that it does not get you! Do you wish
to make gain? Mind you do not lose more than you gain by your gains. I
beseech you, have no more care to gain than you dare turn into a
prayer! Do not desire to have what you dare not ask God to give you.
Measure your desires by a spiritual standard and you will thus be kept
from anything like covetousness. Cares come to many from their
losses–they lose what they have gained. Well, this is a world in which
there is the tendency to lose. Ebbs follow floods and winters crush out
summer flowers. Do not wonder if you lose as other people do, but pray
about your losses. Go to God with them–and instead of fretting, make
them an occasion for waiting upon the Lord and saying–"The Lord gave,
and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. Show me
why You contend with me, and deliver Your servant, I pray You, from
ever complaining of You, whatever You permit me to lose!"

Perhaps you say that your care is neither about your gaining nor your
losing, but about your daily bread. Ah, well, you have promises for
that, you know! The Lord has said, "So shall you dwell in the land, and
verily you shall be fed." He gives you sweet encouragement when He says
that He clothes the grass of the field–and shall He not much more
clothe you, O you of little faith? And the Lord Jesus bids you consider
the fowls of Heaven, how they sow not, neither do they gather into
barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Go, then, to your God
with all your cares! If you have a large family, a slender income and
much ado to make ends meet, and to provide things honest in the sight
of all men, you have so many excuses for knocking at God's door–so
many more reasons for being often found at the Throne of Grace! I
beseech you, turn them to good account. I feel free to call upon a
friend when I really have some business to do with him–and you may be
bold to call upon God when necessities press upon you. Instead of
caring for anything with anxious care, turn it at once into a reason
for renewed prayerfulness.

"Ah," one says, "but I am in perplexity. I do not know what to do."
Well, then, dear Friend, you should certainly pray when you cannot tell
whether it is the right hand road, or the left hand, or straight on, or
whether you should go back! Indeed, when you are in such a fog that you
cannot see the next lamp, then is the time that you must pray. The road
will clear before you very suddenly. I have often had to try this plan,
myself–and I bear witness that when I have trusted to myself, I have
been a gigantic fool! But when I have trusted in God, then He has led
me straight on in the right way, and there has been no mistake about
it! I believe that God's children often make greater blunders over
simple things than they do over more difficult matters. You know how it
was with Israel, when those Gibeonites came, with their old shoes and
clothes, and showed the bread that was moldy, that they said they took
fresh out of their ovens. The children of Israel thought, "This is a
clear case. These men are strangers, they have come from a far country,
so we may make a league with them." They were certain that the evidence
of their eyes proved that these were no Canaanites, so they did not
consult God! The whole matter seemed so plain that they made a league
with the Gibeonites, which was a trouble to them ever afterwards! If we
would, in everything, go to God in prayer, our perplexities would lead
us into no more mistakes than our simplicities–and in simple things
and difficult things we should be guided by the Most High.

Perhaps another friend says, "But I am thinking about the future." Are
you? Well, first, I beg to ask you what you have to do with the future?
Do you know what a day will bring forth? You have been thinking about
what will become of you when you are old, but are you sure that you
will ever be old? I knew one Christian woman who used to worry herself
about how she would get buried. That question never troubled me and
there are many other matters about which we need not worry ourselves.
You can always find a stick with which to beat a dog and, if you need a
care, you can generally find a care with which to beat your own souls!
But that is a poor occupation for any of you. Instead of doing that,
turn everything that might be a subject of care into a subject of
prayer. It will not be long before you have a subject of care, so you
will not be long without a subject of prayer. Strike out that word,
"care," and just write in the place of it this word, "prayer"–and
then, though your cares are numerous, your prayers will also be
numerous.

Note, next, dear Friends, that undue care is an intrusion into God's
province. It is making yourself the father of the household instead of
being a child–it is making yourself the master instead of being a
servant for whom the master provides his rations. Now, if, instead of
doing that, you will turn care into prayer, there will be no intrusion,
for you may come to God in prayer without being charged with
presumption. He invites you to pray. No, here, by His servant, He bids
you, "in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let
your requests be made known unto God." Once more, cares are of no use
to us, and they cause us great damage. If you were to worry as long as
you wished, you could not make yourself an inch taller, or grow another
hair on your head, or make one hair white or black! So the Savior tells
us and He asks, if care fails in such little things, what can care do
in the higher matters of Providence? It cannot do anything! A farmer
stood in his fields and said, "I do not know what will happen to us
all. The wheat will be destroyed if this rain keeps on. We shall not
have any harvest at all unless we have some fine weather." He walked up
and down, wringing his hands, fretting and making his whole household
uncomfortable. And he did not produce one single gleam of sunlight by
all his worrying–he could not puff any of the clouds away with all his
petulant speech, nor could he stop a drop of rain with all his
murmurings.

What is the good of it, then, to keep gnawing at your own heart, when
you can get nothing by it? Besides, it weakens our power to help
ourselves and especially our power to glorify God. A care-full heart
hinders us from judging rightly in many things. I have often used the
illustration (I do not know a better) of taking a telescope, breathing
on it with the hot breath of our anxiety, putting it to our eye and
then saying that we cannot see anything but clouds! Of course we
cannot, and we never shall while we breathe upon it. If we were but
calm, quiet, self-possessed and God-possessed, we would do the right
thing. We would be, as we say, "all there," in the time of difficulty.
That man may expect to have presence of mind who has the Presence of
God. If we forget to pray, do you wonder that we are all in a fidget
and a worry, and we do the first thing that occurs to us–which is
generally the worst thing–instead of waiting till we saw what would be
done and then trustfully and believingly doing it as in the sight of
God? Care, or worry, is injurious, but if you only turn this care into
prayer, then every worry will be a benefit to you.

Prayer is wonderful material for building up the spiritual fabric. We
are, ourselves, edified by prayer. We grow in Grace by prayer and if we
will but come to God every moment with petitions, we shall be fast
growing Christians! I said to one this morning, "Pray for me, it is a
time of need," and she replied, "I have done nothing else since I
awakened." I have made the same request of several others and they have
said that they have been praying for me. I felt so glad, not only for
my own sake, who had received benefit from their prayers, but for their
sakes, because they are sure to grow thereby! When little birds keep
flapping their wings, they are learning to fly. The sinews will get
stronger and the birds will leave the nest before long. That very
clapping of their wings is an education–and the attempting to
pray–the groaning, the sighing, the crying of a prayerful spirit, is,
itself, a blessing! Leave off, then, this damaging habit of worry and
take to this enriching habit of prayer! See how you will thus make a
double gain–first, by avoiding a loss, and secondly, by getting that
which will really benefit you and others, too!

Then, again, cares are the effect of forgetfulness of Christ's
closeness to us. Did you notice how the context runs? "The Lord is at
hand. Be careful for nothing." The Lord Jesus Christ has promised to
come again and He may come tonight. At any moment He may appear! So
Paul writes, "The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in
everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your
requests be made known unto God." Oh, if we could but stand on this
earth as upon a mere shadow! If we could but live as those who will
soon have done with this poor transient life! If we held every earthly
thing with a very loose hand, then we would not be caring, and
worrying, and fretting–but we would take to praying, for thus we would
grasp the real, and the substantial, and plant our feet upon the
invisible, which is, after all, the eternal! Oh, dear Friends, let the
text, which I have read to you over and over again, now drop into your
hearts as a pebble falls into a mountain lake and, as it enters, let it
make rings of comfort upon the very surface of your soul!

II. Now we need to look into the text a little more closely to see, in
the second place, THE SPECIAL CHARACTER OF THIS PRAYER. What sort of
prayer is that which will ease us of care?

Well, first, it is a prayer which deals with everything. "In
everything" "let your requests be made known unto God." You may pray
about the smallest thing and about the greatest thing–you may not only
pray for the Holy Spirit, but you may pray for a new pair of boots. You
may go to God about the bread you eat, the water you drink, the garment
you wear and pray to Him about everything. Draw no line and say, "So
far is to be under the care of God." Dear me, then, what are you going
to do with the rest of life? Is that to be lived under the withering
blight of a sort of atheism? God forbid! Oh, that we might live in God
as to the whole of our being, for our being is such that we cannot
divide it! Our body, soul and spirit are one, and while God leaves us
in this world and we have necessities which arise out of the condition
of our bodies,

we must bring our bodily necessities before God in prayer. And you will
find that the great God will hear you in these matters. Say not that
they are too little for Him to notice–everything is little in
comparison with Him! When I think of what a great God He is, it seems
to me that this poor little world of ours is just one insignificant
grain of sand on the seashore of the universe–and not worth any notice
at all. The whole earth is a mere speck in the great world of Nature
and, if God condescends to consider it, He may as well stoop a little
lower and consider us! And He does so, for He says, "Even the very
hairs of your head are all numbered." Therefore, in everything let your
requests be made known unto God.

The kind of prayer that saves us from care is prayer that is
repeated–"In everything, by prayer and supplication." Pray to God and
then pray again–"by prayer and supplication." If the Lord does not
answer you the first time, be very grateful that you have a good reason
for praying again! If He does not grant your request the second time,
believe that He loves you so much that He wants to hear your voice
again! And if He keeps you waiting till you have gone to Him seven
times, say to yourself, "Now I know that I worship the God of Elijah,
for Elijah's God let him go, again, seven times before the blessing was
given." Count it an honor to be permitted to wrestle with the Angel of
God! This is the way God makes His princes! Jacob had never been Israel
if he had obtained the blessing from the Angel at the first asking–but
when he had to keep on wrestling till he prevailed, then he became a
prince with God! The prayer that kills care is prayer that is continued
and importunate.

Next, it is intelligent prayer–"Let your requests be made known unto
God." I heard of a Muslim who spent, I think, six hours in prayer each
day and, lest he should go to sleep when on board a ship, he stood
upright and only had a rope stretched across, so that he might lean
against it. And if he slept, he would fall. His objective was to keep
on for six hours with what he called prayer. "Well," I said to one who
knew him, and who had seen him on board his boat on the Nile, "What
sort of prayer was it?" "Why," my friend replied, "he kept on
repeating, 'There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of
God,' the same thing over, and over, and over again." I said, "Did he
ask for anything?" "Oh, no!" "Was he pleading with God to give him
anything?" "No, he simply kept on with that perpetual repetition of
certain words, just as a witch might repeat a charm."

Do you think there is anything in that style of praying? If you go on
your knees and simply repeat a certain formula, it will be only a
mouthful of words. What does God care about that kind of praying? "Let
your requests be made known unto God." That is true prayer! God knows
what your requests are, but you are to pray to Him as if He did not
know. You are to make known your requests, not because the Lord does
not know, but, perhaps, because you do not know. And when you have made
your requests known to Him, as the text tells you, you will more
clearly have made them known to yourself. When you have asked
intelligently, knowing what you have asked, and knowing why you have
asked it, you will, perhaps, stop and say to yourself, "No, I must not,
after all, make that request." Sometimes, when you have gone on praying
for what God does not give you, it may be that there will steal over
your mind the conviction that you are not on the right track and that
result of your prayer will, in itself, do you good, and be a blessing
to you.

But you are to pray making your requests known unto God. That is, in
plain English, say what you need, for this is true prayer. Get alone
and tell the Lord what you need–pour out your heart before Him. Do not
imagine that God needs any fine language! No, you need not run upstairs
for your prayer book, and turn to a collect–you will be a long time
before you find any collect that will fit you if you are really
praying! Pray for what you need just as if you were telling your mother
or your dearest friend what your need is. Go to God in that fashion,
for that is real prayer, and that is the kind of prayer that will drive
away your cares.

So, dear Friends, again, the kind of prayer that brings freedom from
care is communion with God. If you have not spoken to God, you have not
really prayed. A little child has been known (I daresay your children
have done it) to go and put a letter down the grating of a drain and,
of course, there was never any reply to a letter posted in that way. If
the letter is not put into the postbox, so that it goes to the person
to whom it is addressed, what is the use of it? So, prayer is real
communication with God. You must realize that He is and that He is the
Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, or else you cannot pray. He
must be a reality to you, a living reality, and you must believe that
He hears prayer, and then you must speak with Him and believe that you
have the petition that you ask of Him–and so you shall have it. He has
never yet failed to honor believing prayer. He may keep you waiting for
a while, but delays are not denials, and He has often answered a prayer
that asked for silver by giving gold! He may have denied earthly
treasure, but He has given heavenly riches of ten thousand times the
worth–and the suppliant has been more than satisfied with the
exchange! "Let your requests be made known unto God."

I know what you do when you are in trouble–you go to your neighbor,
but your neighbor does not want to see you quite so often about such
business. Possibly you go to your brother, but there is a text that
warns you not to go into your brother's house in the day of your
calamity. You may call on a friend too often when you are hard up–he
may be very pleased to see you till he hears what you are after! But if
you go to your God, He will never give you the cold shoulder. He will
never say that you come too often. On the contrary, He will even chide
you because you do not come to Him often enough!

There is one word which I passed over, just now, because I wanted to
leave it for my last observation on this point– "By prayer and
supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto
God." Now what does that mean? It means that the kind of prayer that
kills care is a prayer that asks cheerfully, joyfully, thankfully.
"Lord, I am poor. Let me bless You for my poverty and then, O Lord,
will You not supply all my needs?" That is the way to pray. "Lord, I am
ill. I bless You for this affliction, for I am sure that it means some
good thing to me. Now be pleased to heal me, I beseech You!" "Lord, I
am in a great trouble, but I praise You for the trouble, for I know
that it contains a blessing though the envelope is black-edged! Lord,
help me through my trouble!" That is the kind of prayer that kills
care–"supplication, with thanksgiving." Mix these two things well! One
drachma–no, two drachma of prayer–prayer and supplication, then one
drachma of thanksgiving! Rub them together and they will make a blessed
cure for care. May the Lord teach us to practice this holy art of the
apothecary!

III. I finish with this third point, THE SWEET EFFECT OF THIS
PRAYER–"And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

If you can pray in this fashion, instead of indulging evil anxiety, the
result will be that an unusual peace will steal over your heart and
mind. Unusual, for it will be "the peace of God." What is God's peace?
The unruffled serenity of the infinitely happy God, the eternal
composure of the absolutely well-contented God! This shall possess your
heart and mind. Notice how Paul describes it–"The peace of God, which
passes all understanding." Other people will not understand it. They
will not be able to make out how you can be so quiet. What is more, you
will not be able to tell them, for if it surpasses all understanding,
it certainly passes all expression! And what is even more amazing–you
will not understand it yourself!

It will be such a peace that it will be to you, unfathomable and
immeasurable. When one of the martyrs was about to burn for Christ, he
said to the judge who was giving orders to light the pile, "Will you
come and lay your hand on my heart? "The judge did so. "Does it beat
fast?" enquired the martyr. "Do I show any sign of fear?" "No," said
the judge. "Now lay your hand on your own heart and see whether you are
not more excited than I am." Think of that man of God, who, on the
morning he was to be burned, was so soundly asleep that they had to
shake him to wake him–he had to get up to be burned! And yet knowing
that it was to be so, he had such confidence in God that he slept
sweetly. This is "the peace of God, which passes all understanding." In
those old Diocletian persecutions, when the martyrs came into the
amphitheatre to be torn by wild beasts–when one was set in a red-hot
iron chair, another was smeared with honey to be stung to death by
wasps and bees–they never flinched!

Think of that brave man who was put on a gridiron to be roasted to
death, who said to his persecutors, "You have done me on one side. Now
turn me over to the other." Why this peace under such circumstances? It
was "the peace of God, which passes all understanding." We do not have
to suffer like that, nowadays, but if it ever comes to anything like
that, it is wonderful what peace a Christian enjoys! After there had
been a great storm, the Master stood up in the prow of the vessel and
said to the winds, "Be still." And we read, "there was a great calm."
Have you ever felt this? You feel it tonight if you have learned this
sacred art of making your requests known unto God in everything and the
peace of God which passes all understanding is keeping your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.

This blessed peace keeps our hearts and minds–it is a guardian peace.
The Greek word implies a garrison. Is it not an odd thing that a
military term is used here and that it is peace that acts as a guard to
the heart and to the mind? It is the peace of God that is to protect
the child of God–strange but beautiful figure! I have heard that fear
is the housekeeper for a Christian. Well, fear may be a good guardian
to keep dogs out, but it has not a full cupboard! But peace, though it
seems weakness, is the essence of strength and, while it guards, it
also feeds us and supplies all our needs.

It is also a peace which links us to Jesus–"The peace of God which
passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds." That is,
your affections and your thoughts, your desires and your
intellect–your heart–so that it shall not fear.

Your mind, so that it shall not know any kind of perplexity–"the peace
of God shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." It is
all, "through Christ Jesus" and, therefore, it is doubly sweet and
precious to us!

O my dear Hearers, some of you come in here on Thursday nights and you
do not know anything about this peace of God and, perhaps, you wonder
why we Christian people make such a fuss about our religion! Ah, if you
knew, you would, perhaps, make more fuss about it than we do, for if
there were no hereafter–and we know that there is–yet the blessed
habit of going to God in prayer and casting all our care upon Him helps
us to live most joyfully, even in this life! We do not believe in
secularism, but if we did, there would be no preparation for the
earthly life like this living unto God and living in God! If you have a
sham god and you merely go to Church or Chapel and carry your prayer
book or your hymn book with you and, therefore, think you are
Christians, you are deceiving yourselves! But if you have a living God
and you have real fellowship with Him and constantly, as a habit, live
beneath the shadow of the wings of the Almighty, then you shall enjoy a
peace that shall make others wonder and make you, yourself, marvel,
too, even, "the peace of God, which passes all understanding." God
grant it to you, my beloved Hearers, for Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: Philippians 4

Verse 1. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy
and crown, do stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. You know that
the Church at Philippi was very dear to the Apostle's heart. He could
never forget the time when he and Silas prayed with the women at the
riverside and afterwards prayed and sang praises unto God in the
prison, when the prisoners heard them. Lydia and her household and the
Philippian jailor were among the first fruits of Paul's work at
Philippi and there was always a very intimate love between him and the
members of the Church in that place. They cared for him and he cared
for them. Twice in this one verse he speaks of them as his, "dearly
beloved." He says that he "longed for them, longed to come and see them
face to face, longed that they might be happy in the Lord to the very
highest degree. So he says, "my brethren, dearly beloved and longed
for, my joy." It was such a joy to him, even, to think of them as his
spiritual children and especially to see after what a godly and
generous fashion they behaved themselves. Yes, and he calls them his,
"crown"–a garland which he had won in spiritual wrestling! The
Christian's converts are his joy, here, and they will be his crown
forever in Heaven. Paul bade these Philippians, "stand fast in the
Lord." It looks like a very simple thing to stand fast, but they who
try to do it know how difficult a task it is.

2. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same
mind in the Lord. Only two women who had fallen out with one another,
but the Apostle is so anxious for perfect unity that he puts in a,
"beseech," for each of them. He does not say which was right and which
was wrong, but he would have them, "of the same mind in the Lord."
Little differences, even between obscure members of the Church, may
hinder the work of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is like a dove–
and doves love quiet places–they do not come where there is noise and
strife. Oh, let us cultivate love towards one another! And if in
anything we have disagreed at any time, let us think that we hear Paul
saying, tonight, "I beseech Euodias, and I beseech Syntyche, that they
be of the same mind in the Lord." Make up, my Sisters! Make up, my
Brothers! Whatever the quarrel is, end it and, "be of the same mind in
the Lord." Bought with the same precious blood, robed in the same
perfect righteousness, on the way to the same Heaven, "be of the same
mind in the Lord."

3. And I entreat you also, true yokefellow, help those women which
labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement, also, and with other of my
fellow laborers, whose names are in the Book of Life. We do not know
who this "true yokefellow" was. Very likely it was Epaphroditus who
carried this Epistle to Philippi. Whoever it was, it was someone who
had worked with Paul shoulder to shoulder. If two bullocks bear the
same yoke and yet do not agree, they make it very uncomfortable for one
another. If one tries to lie down and the other wants to stand up, or
if one goes faster than the other, the yoke becomes doubly galling.
Paul speaks of somebody here as having been his "true yokefellow"–and
he says to him, "Help those women which labored with me in the Gospel."

What an eminent place women have always held in the service of the Lord
Jesus Christ and here Paul speaks of them as laboring with him in the
Gospel! Surely Lydia must have been one of those. "With Clement, also,
and with other of my fellow laborers, whose names are in the Book of
Life." According to some learned commentators, a man's name may be in
the Book of Life for a time, but it may be removed. If their teaching
is true, that book will be very much scratched and blotted. I thank God
that I do not believe in any such book as that! If the Lord Jesus
Christ has written my name in the Book of Life, in the great family
register of the redeemed, I defy all the devils of Hell to ever get it
erased!

4. Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. If you ever
rejoice in the Lord, you may always rejoice in the Lord, for He is
always the same, and always gracious! There is as much reason for
rejoicing in God at one time as at another, since He never changes.

5. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The word, "moderation,"
in the Greek, is a very difficult word to translate into English. It
does not mean moderation in the sense in which some people use the
word, for they make it, as I think, almost an accursed one. "Let your
moderation"–your gentleness, your willingness, your forbearance–"be
known unto all men." That is what it means. Do not push your own rights
too far–stop short of what you might fairly demand and when you feel,
at any time, a little vehement in temper, check yourself–hold yourself
in, bear and forbear. Go not as far as you may, nor even as far as some
think that you ought, in defending your own rights. Let your
gentleness, your yielding-ness, be known unto all men.

5. The Lord is at hand. Christ is coming–why do you put yourself out?
The Lord is near you to help you–why are you so excessively anxious?
Why are you so carried away with the present temporary trial? "The Lord
is at hand."

6. Be careful for nothing. Be anxiously careful for nothing! Sing, with
Faber–

"I have no cares, O blessed Lord, For all my cares are Yours."

6-8. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which
passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever
things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if
there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think on these things.
Everything of this kind concerns you, therefore help it as far as you
can. Be on the side of every cause that may be thus described. If it
vindicates truth, uprightness, reverence, religion, chastity,
holiness–be on that side. If there is anything the reverse of this, do
not have anything to do with it, but if there is any movement in the
world that will help forward things that are true, honest, just, pure,
lovely and of good report, "think on these things," and so think upon
them as to increase their influence among the sons and daughters of
men!

9. Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard,
and seen in me, do. It is well when a preacher can speak like
that–when he has not to say, "Do as I say and not as I do," but when,
like the Apostle, he can say–"those things, which you have both
learned, received, heard and seen in me, do."

9. And the God of Peace shall be with you. The God of Peace is always
with those who receive His dear Son and who help His Gospel. It is one
of the privileges of true Believers that the God of Peace shall be
constantly with them.

10. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now, at the last, your
care of me has flourished again; wherein you were also careful, but you
lacked opportunity. Paul was in prison at Rome and these Philippians
had made a contribution. And they had sent Epaphroditus with it to
relieve the Apostle in his poverty, so he said to them, "You cared for
me before; but for a time you had not the opportunity of helping me,
and now you have thought of me, again, therefore I rejoice in the Lord
greatly."

11. Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatever state I am, therewith to be content. Is not that a splendid
piece of learning? Paul was a learned man and so are you, if you have
learned this lesson! You may not be able to put D.D., or LL.D., after
your name, but you are a learned man if you can say, "I have learned,
in whatever state I am, therewith to be content."

12. I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. These are
two grand things to learn. There are some who know the first, but who
do not know the second. I have known several of God's children who
seemed quite eminent for piety when they were abased, but they were
never worth anything after they grew rich. They did not know how to
abound– they became top-heavy and far too great for their britches! It
was not so with the Apostle, for he could truthfully say, "I know both
how to be abased and I know how to abound."

12. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to
be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Was he not a true Master
of Arts? He had mastered the art of being hungry without murmuring, the
art of being full without boasting, the art of suffering need without
impatience, the art of abounding without setting his affection on
worldly things. He was, indeed, a Master of Arts of the very highest
order!

13. I can do all things–That looks like bragging, does it not? Finish
the sentence.

14. Through Christ which strengthens me. There is no improper boasting,
here, for Paul could do all things through Christ's mighty power! It
has been well said that the angels excel in strength, but the saints
excel in their weakness. When we are most weak, and Christ strengthens
us, then are the most excellent virtues produced.

14-17. Notwithstanding, you have done well, that you did communicate
with my affliction. Now you Philippians know, also, that in the
beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no Church
communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you, only.
For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again unto my necessity. Not
because I desired a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your
account. Their liberality was set down to their account in God's book.

18, 19. But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet
smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. But my God shall
supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.
It is Paul's God who took care of the Philippians and it is Paul's God
who will take care of you and me! "My God," says Paul, "shall supply
all your needs–not as you have supplied mine, out of your poverty, but
according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus"! Do not imagine that
you will ever exhaust God's riches in Glory, or drain the national
treasury of all-sufficiency–that cannot be.

20. Now unto God and our Father be Glory forever and ever. Amen. He
blesses us, let us bless Him! He supplies all our needs according to
His riches in Glory–let us extol his Glory forever and ever.

21. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. Give him a shake of the hand.
Say, "How are you, my Brother? I wish you well." These hearty
salutations ought to be common in every Christian assembly. I always
deprecate that wonderful respectability that exists in some places of
worship where nobody knows anybody else. They are too respectable to
become acquainted with their brethren. If you are in Christ Jesus, get
to know one another! "Salute every saint in Christ Jesus."

21, 22. The brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute
you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. I suppose most of
these were only slaves in the imperial household. There may have been
one or two, perhaps, of a higher class, but, in all probability, the
Gospel first reached the slaves in the Roman palace, that pandemonium
of vice, where lust and cruelty abounded. There were saints even
there–and God still has some of His jewels lying on dunghills!

23. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.