8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. ~ Philippians 4:8-9
In our previous blog, we considered Philippians 4:6-7 which reads, "6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I recap these two verses because today's text is couched in going from "the peace of God" (v.7) to "the God of peace." (v.9). It is that which we discover in v.8 that enables us to experience more intimacy in our walk with the Lord.
That which defines our thinking is that which determines our living. It is in this context of deeper intimacy and subsequent spiritual maturity, the Apostle Paul addresses the issues that divide us. Due to our immaturity, we focus on the differences. On the one hand, we want to be faithful to the Bible. On the other, we want to care about people.
This doesn't mean we don't work through our conflicts. It means that as we do work through them, we remember that in Christ, we are on the same team. We have far more in common than we possibly have different.
Spiritual stability is experienced through peace, joy, humility, faith, and gratitude. And when our lives are characterized by these spiritual attitudes, we will be able to experience difficulty and not lose our balance in our efforts to honor the Lord and love people.
When we put our theology or our passion for justice above knowing Christ, we have made a serious mistake. Nothing must compare to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ. Nothing. However, what is the use to loving God if we are not loving our neighbor?
Ironically, those things that would render us unstable like persecution, hostility, rejection, testings, trials, are useful to God as He cements into our lives spiritual stability. And, if we want to be spiritually stable, we must be defined by His way of thinking and living.
In v.8, the Apostle Paul highlights another essential key to being spiritually stable. There are seven things that aid us in our attempt to be more intimate with God. These seven qualities take us from experiencing the peace of God to knowing more deeply, the God of peace.
First, in v.8, we read, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true.” In John 17:17, we read, “Your Word is truth.” To know the truth, we go to the Word of God. If we think on whatever is true, we are going to drill deeply into the Word of God.
Second, Paul writes, “Whatever is noble,” which means whatever is dignified, lofty, and not trashy. The word, "noble" comes from the root word for worship. Whatever is worthy of awe, whatever is held in high regard, whatever is greatly respected, whatever is worthy of adoration, that’s what we must think about.
Third, Paul writes, “Whatever is right” or righteous. Whatever is in perfect harmony with the eternal, and unchanging God. The word "right" means to think on what is consistent with the character of God.
Fourth, Paul implores us to think upon "whatever is pure." The word "pure" means that which is morally clean, or undefiled.
Fifth, Paul writes, think upon “whatever is lovely,” which means winsome, pleasing, attractive, amiable.
Sixth, think upon "whatever is admirable." This word means whatever is sweet or gracious or generous or patient.
And then, seventh, he writes, “if anything is excellent or praiseworthy.” This phrase conveys the idea that something is eminently good, valuable beyond value. At its root, it even carries the idea of valor; something worthy of intrinsic praise or virtue.
Spiritual stability is a product of cultivating peace by resting on a confident trust in the Lord, reacting to problems with thankful prayer, and all of this flows out of focusing on godly virtues that begin to dominate our thinking and impact our behavior.
In v.9, we read, “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice.” Paul reminds us that he is a model of his teaching, as he overcame his troubles, persecutions, difficulties, testings, and maintained spiritual stability.
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