“Bible promises: the peace that passes understanding”
Philippians 4:7
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Some forty-five minutes south of Louisville, Kentucky, and east of Evansville, Indiana, there’s one of the safest and most secure places on earth. While its official name is the “United States Bullion Depository,” we know it simply as Fort Knox.
And let me tell you, it’s safe! In fact, many would call it the safest place on earth! Not only are its grounds surrounded by electric fences, laser-triggered machine guns, hundreds of alarms, tanks, Apache helicopters, and landmines, there’s a guard box at each of the building’s four corners, not to mention sentry boxes at the entrance.
And if that’s not enough, Fort Knox also happens to be the home of forty thousand soldiers who have nothing else to do except keep the place safe.
And that’s nothing to say of the vault that’s inside! Just the door--made of concrete and steel--is twenty-one inches thick and weighs twenty tons. Good luck getting inside!
And that’s just one of the safest places on earth. Think of New York’s Federal Reserve Bank, built on the solid bedrock of Manhattan Island, eighty feet below street level. It’s the home of 507,000 gold bars, (one of the largest gold reserves in the world!), weighing in at just over six thousand tons. It’s guarded by a state-of-the-art security system as well as armed Federal police.
That’s a safe place!
Or think of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. It’s the home of more than a million varieties of seeds just in case we’re hit by an asteroid or a nuclear bomb.
And let me tell you--it’s safe too, seeing as how it sits pretty much in the middle of nowhere, is built into the side of a mountain, and is surrounded by freezing temperatures, not to mention quite a lot of hungry polar bears.
But once you’re inside, it’s a perfectly safe place to be!
The book of Philippians chapter 4 tells us about another safe place, probably the safest place we could ever hope to be. But I’ll get back to that in just a moment.
Over the past number of months, we’ve looked at quite a lot of Bible promises, like Genesis chapter 9, where God said, “I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth” (Genesis 9:13), and Exodus chapter 14, “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still” (Exodus 14:14), and Joshua chapter 24, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15), and Isaiah chapter 1, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18), and Romans chapter 8, “All things work together for the good, for those who called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), and II Corinthians chapter 5, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (II Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). In John chapter 14, He said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2), and He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Look closely enough, and you’ll find more than eight thousand, eight hundred promises from God to man, from man to man, and from man to God. That’s more than twenty-two promises for each and every day of the year. That’s a lot of promises!
And one more--it’s found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians chapter 4. It goes like this: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
As far as we know, Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians at the end of his life, while he was in prison in Rome. In fact, he wrote four epistles, what we today call his “prison epistles,” first to the Ephesians, then to the Colossians, and then to Philemon. Now he would write one more.
And what an amazing church it must have been, for he wrote, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5).
And what a wonderful letter it is, for it’s here that we find words like these: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), and “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8), and “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).
Now here in chapter four he gives one of God’s most beautiful promises of all: “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
While it’s easy to say that the world is a lot of things, one thing it isn’t is peaceful. Turn on the news and we can’t help but hear of constant wars, constant rumors of war, constant crime, and constant fear. When we go to work, we find ourselves surrounded by conflict, gossip, and drama. When we head home, we encounter tension, tempers, and dysfunction. And whenever we have a moment to be all by ourselves, we find anxiety, bitterness, and fear.
According to the American Psychological Association, here in our United States, about eighteen percent of adults, (that’s nearly one in every five), and twenty-five percent of youth, (that’s one in every four), experience anxiety. Even more, they say that four out of every one hundred adults and six out of every one hundred teens have severe anxiety disorders. Thanks to cell phones, social media, mobs, riots, shootings, terrorism, and news reports that are getting worse all the time, it’s not surprising at all.
And not only do we experience such stress and anxiety, we experience different kinds. Think, for example, of “General Anxiety Disorder,” where you constantly worry and feel anxious, or “Panic Disorder,” where you sweat, shake, have shortness of breath and feelings of dread. Think of phobias of all kinds--fear of rats or snakes or spiders or closed places or thunder and lightning. There’s “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,” where thoughts, images or impulses threaten you over and over again. And there’s “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” where flashbacks constantly intrude on your waking thoughts and even your dreams.
And what do we worry about? You name it, and we probably worry about it!
We worry about finances--will we have enough money to pay this month’s bills? What if I lose my job? What if my car breaks down? Will I have enough for retirement? Or how about my medical bills?
We worry about our health--what if I get cancer or Alzheimer’s? If we’re older, we worry if we’ll become disabled and have to go into a nursing home. If we’re younger, we worry about our aging parents.
We worry about our children--will they be safe in this sin-sick world? Will they marry a Christian and have a happy home? And what kind of world will their children have to live in?
You’ve heard of Howard Hughes? He was a twentieth-century businessman, investor, pilot, film director, and engineer. In today’s money, he was worth fifty-five billion dollars!
Now you’d think that anyone with that much money would be the picture of ease and tranquility--sitting beside a pool with his feet up, sipping drinks with little umbrellas.
Not Howard Hughes! For the last twenty-five years of his life, he was the poster child for worry and anxiety. Overwhelmed by fear that people were out to get him, he spent his last years living in hotels, where he would rent out entire floors. Those closest to him said he was so afraid, he would sit in a pitch-black room for days at a time, refusing to allow anyone to see him.
And if, for some reason, someone had to see him, there were certain things they had to do. They had to take several tissues, cover the door knob, knock, and open the door ever-so-slightly, all because he was so very afraid of germs. Even worse, his worry caused such physical problems that he once sat in the bathroom for twenty-seven hours in a row!
And if he ever did venture out, his driver had strict instructions--take only smooth roads, and don’t drive any faster than thirty-five miles an hour. And on the chance they had to cross railroad tracks or bumps in the road, he was to slow down to two miles an hour--Hughes was that afraid of having an accident.
When he died in April of 1976 of kidney failure and malnutrition, even though he was six-foot, four inches tall, he weighed only ninety pounds. The FBI had to use fingerprints to identify his body.
Automobile tycoon Henry Ford once said, “I was happier when I was doing a mechanic’s job.” Multimillionaire W. H. Vanderbilt said, “The care of two hundred million dollars is enough to kill anyone. There is no pleasure in it.” And multimillionaire, Andrew Carnegie, said, “Millionaires seldom smile.”
Or think of King Solomon, who was likely one of the richest men in history. He wrote in his book of Ecclesiastes, “I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well--the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.” Then he said, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done, and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
No matter where we go, it seems, we cannot find peace.
But that’s exactly what our God wants us to find!
Isaiah wrote, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You” (Isaiah 26:3). David wrote in Psalm 4, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). And Paul wrote, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15).
Remember when Jesus was on a boat with His disciples? The Bible says that they were out, late at night, when the wind suddenly blew and waves broke over their boat. And what was Jesus doing? He was sound asleep in the back of the boat.
Not knowing what else to do, the disciples woke Him up and said, “Teacher, don’t You care if we drown?”
And what did Jesus do? When He woke up, the Bible says He rebuked the wind and the waves saying, “Peace! Be still!” (Mark 4:39).
As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
“It surpasses all understanding,” he wrote. It’s something we could never completely conceive, comprehend, or understand. We can’t create it. We can’t buy it. And we can’t sell it. We can’t earn it or give it away. We can only receive it.
It surpasses all understanding.
In the words of John MacArthur, “It transcends human intellectual powers, human analysis, human insights, and human understanding. It’s superior to human scheming, human devices, and human solutions. It’s unsearchable and unfathomable.”
And what will this peace do? He wrote, it “will guard your hearts and your minds.”
“It will guard,” he said. It will watch. It will keep. It will protect. It will defend.
When you’re sick, God offers the peace of His comfort. When you’re afraid, He offers the peace of His presence. When you’re weak, He offers the peace of His strength. When You’re tired, He offers the peace of His rest. When you’re discouraged, He offers the peace of His joy. And when you breathe your last breath, He offers you the peace of eternal life.
As one commentator wrote, “If you have ever walked among giant redwoods, you’ll never be overwhelmed by the size of a dogwood tree. If you’ve ever been through a hurricane, a spring rain is nothing to fear. And if you’ve been in the presence of the almighty God, everything that once controlled you suddenly has lost its power.”
“The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
In his book, A Wardrobe from the King, author Berit Kjos tells a story about a man who announced a contest to paint a perfect picture of peace. And as the days passed, paintings arrived from all around as the judges judged one peaceful scene after another.
Finally, only two pictures remained--one was a mirror-smooth lake reflecting lacy, white birches under a soft, evening sky. Along the shore, a flock of sheep grazed on tender, green grass.
Surely that was the winner!
But there was one more. That painting showed a tumultuous waterfall cascading down a rocky cliff. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind, and rain. In the midst of thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls, as one of its branches reached out over the torrential waters.
And beneath that tree, in the elbow of a branch, a bird had built her nest. And content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, with her eyes closed and her wings folded, she quietly rested on her eggs.
And that was the winner!
As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
And that’s a promise!
In times of doubt and fear and worry, dear Father, grant that Your peace, which surpasses all understanding, may guard our hearts and minds in Christ, and Christ alone, for His sake. Amen