Live Victorious Over Fear

Live Victorious Over Fear
Philippians 4:4-9
October 26, 2025

The church at Philippi had a lot of respect for Paul. When they heard of all the troubles he had endured and that he was held as a prisoner in Rome, they sent a messenger with words of encouragement and a financial gift.

Paul writes this letter to thank them, but also to strengthen them in their faith and to encourage them to grow in their maturity in Christ. The church at Philippi was healthy and strong, but Paul knew they must keep growing in faith and maturity and this letter shows them what that looks like.

The same is true for us, if things are going well and you are spiritually strong, there is still much more that God wants to do to strengthen your faith. There are many troubles coming upon this world and God knows we need to be spiritually ready and on the alert.

And if things are not going well and you’re not spiritually strong, then God definitely wants to take hold of your life and bring you through those troubles. And if you’ll open your heart, He will heal you and strengthen you, and when you’ve come through the other side of those troubles, He wants you to keep walking with Him to keep growing in your faith.

This week Paul writes that what we set our minds on has everything to do with whether we have a victorious spirit. In Chapter 3 Paul wrote, “One thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” He reminded them to live focused on the fact that they are citizens of Heaven.

This has a very practical application, especially when we encounter fear and anxiety. God’s heart for us is to not live in fear, but live in faith, free from fear and anxiety.

I. Be Anxious for Nothing

• There is a lot to be anxious about in this world. The news is filled with tragedies, the world is getting more dangerous every day, militant Islam is an ever-present danger. Financial markets are uncertain. A possible East/west technology cold war, the advancement of AI makes the future uncertain. The Middle East is a boiling pot waiting to spill over.
• The world Paul lived in, however, was different but equally dangerous. Paul also understood the significance of faith and the bearing it would have on his perspective.
• Verse 4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say it, rejoice!”
• Paul went through one tragedy and difficulty after another, and yet he could rejoice in the Lord.
• He saw a bigger picture, he looked beyond his circumstances and saw many reasons to rejoice.
• He was holding on to the future hope and promise.

Philippians 3:20-21, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

• One day, we will be transformed into the glorious state which Jesus now is in.
• This is why we can have a different perspective. Viewing the now from the perspective of the eternal. Still, while we are on our way to that glorious hope, we can know God is also at work in the now, and He does not want us to be anxious.

A. Faith is the answer to worry

• The word ‘anxious’ is often misused. Many people say, “I’m anxious to see my friend tomorrow,” what they mean is that they are eager to see their friend.
• To be anxious is to worry or fret and it’s based on the fear of the unknown; ‘what if this should happen?’ or ‘what if that should happen?’ and because it could happen they worry as if it will happen.

Luke 12:25, “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?”

Matthew 10:29-31, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more  valuable than many sparrows.”

• Do not be anxious about anything, Paul wrote. Many people are held prisoner by fear, but that is not God’s heart for you. Faith is the answer to fear.

2 Timothy 1:7, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.

• God gave us a Spirit of power and love and very importantly… a sound mind. If we can truly grasp that God is all powerful, all loving, it can give us a surety of faith , having minds and thoughts that are not scattered in different anxious, fearful directions, but minds that are quiet and focused on Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16, But he who is spiritual appraises all things, … But we have the mind of Christ.

• We are encouraged to appraise situations from a spiritual, godly, God-focused perspective. Then we will have the mind of Christ. See things the way Christ would see them. Storms did not stir fear in Jesus. Death did not stir fear in Jesus. Persecution did not make Him anxious.
• Faith is the assurance of what you know about God’s character.

2 Timothy 1:12, I know in whom I have believes and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that day.

App – Have you committed…? Then trust Him.

B. Let your requests be made known to God

• Instead of worry, instead of being anxious, let your requests be made known to God in everything, in prayer and supplication… with thanksgiving.
• When you pray, it changes your perspective. When you worry, you’re focused on what might happen, or what did go wrong, or the pain in your heart.

Illus – When you hit your little toe hard against something, for that moment it is the most important thing in your life. In the perspective of the functioning of your whole body, it hurts, but it is relatively insignificant. Yet it can paralyze you if you keep focusing on it.

• Prayer and supplication are two subtly different things. Prayer is a broad term for communicating with God. Supplication is making a desperate, urgent plea. Many people don’t want to bother God, but God wants you to ask, because it changes your perspective.

Illus – when a child experiences fear, dad says, look at me…

Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” 

• We need to acknowledge, however, that God knows the best answer to our prayer. What we think is good may not be what God thinks is good. A teenager might think that 5 years of vacation instead of high school is a great idea. Mom and dad have a different opinion.

Illus – Do you give your kids everything they ask for? Sometimes ‘no’, or ‘not yet’ is the best answer. They do not understand why, but one day they will.

• In the same way, Paul says we see only in part, but one day we will understand. Until then, we need to trust that our Father knows best.
• The word prayer here is more than just asking, there’s a sense of worshipful prayer. Jesus spent many hours praying to His Father, and you can be sure that he did much more than simply asking for things.
• It was much richer communication, talking to His Father. It encompasses praising, worshipping, asking for direction, surrendering, and everything that encompasses good communication.

Illus –  How do you communicate with your spouse, loved one?

• The wonderful thing is that God talks back. It might be through His word, through an encounter, through a song, even with a billboard.
• It might not always be in the moment, but as you pour out your heart to Him, be expectant that during the day/week/month/year, He will answer back. As needed. In His time.

App – A good idea is to write down your question or prayer request in a journal. When the answer comes, it might seem so “obvious”, that you might miss the miracle of God answering you.

C. Have an attitude of thanksgiving

• Having a prayerful heart and an attitude of thanksgiving is the opposite of grumbling and complaining. We need to be thankful.
• A heart that is thankful unto the Lord is a heart that knows what it means to be satisfied. If you don’t know how to give thanks, you’ll never be satisfied; you’ll always find something wrong, you’ll never be happy. Be thankful for what God has done.

Hebrews 13:15, Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.

• This is important because this is not natural to our human condition. In our flesh we want to feel sorry for ourselves, we want to be cynical or grumpy or say every rude thing we feel.
• In EVERYTHING…. This means be thankful, not for the difficulty or challenge, but IN the difficulty and challenge.
• If you want to have a full and blessed life, then you need to have a grateful and thankful heart to God.
• If you focus on the imperfections in yourself or the imperfections in others, you will have little to be thankful for.
• When you pray you are entering into God’s presence.

Psalm 100:4-5, Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.

• Then, when you are going through the valley of Baca (weeping), you can make it a spring. They go from strength to strength.(Psalm 84:6)

Illus – This reminds me of the story is 2 Kings 3 when there was no water for the army. Elisha told them to dig holes and trenches in the dry area, and that God would fill the holes with water, even though there will be no rain.

• It was a test of faith, trusting God, acting on His word. Paul tells us to, with thanksgiving and rejoicing, pray, ask, make our requests known to God.
• God also used this faith miracle to defeat the enemy. God used the dry land, the supplication, and the answer to their asking to bring them victory. He made it all work for good.

D. Peace will guard your heart and mind

• If, instead of being anxious, instead of worrying and being bothered about so many things, we let our requests be made known to God with prayer and supplication and thanksgiving…
• Then we will have peace. Not just any peace, the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension. And it’s that kind of peace that will guard your heart and your mind from worry and anxiety and fear.
• Faith brings that kind of peace. It’s beyond comprehension because it’s counterintuitive. When things go wrong people expect you to be a broken wreck, but when peace guards your heart and mind, you have an anchor for your soul.

Psalm 42:11, Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.

Romans 8:31, What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

II. Let Your Mind Dwell on These Things

• Have you ever laid awake at night thinking about what might go wrong; worry filling your heart?
• To have a victorious spirit, the set of your mind, the frame of your mind is the key.

A. Whatever is true, honorable and right

• There are a lot of things that may be true, but aren’t worth setting your mind upon. It’s true that there are many things wrong with this world, but Paul says to think on the things that are true and honorable and right; that’s the key to a victorious spirit.
• What you input into your mind has everything to do with how you live your life.

Proverbs 23:7, For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.

• What you think on has a direct impact on your feelings and your emotions.

Illus – Have you ever experienced how quickly your emotions can change? You might be in a wonderful space, until you meet up with someone and they start fixating on or start discussing a deep problem. Within minutes your whole day and countenance can be turned sour.

B. Dwell on things worthy of praise

• Verse 8 – whatever is pure or lovely or of good repute or anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things, Paul wrote.
• Dwell on these things because what you set your mind on determines what your soul becomes.

Luke 6:45, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good… for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

• The only way to get good treasure in the heart is to put it there. You do it by having a rhythm of putting the word in your heart.

Psalm 119:11-12, Your word have I treasured in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me your ways.

• If we take sin in the context of ‘missing the mark’, we can miss the mark by being anxious. The enemy can steal and take you off course, paralyze you to mis the mark of God’s best for you.

Illus – Are God maybe leading you on someone’s path you have to minister to, but because of your state of mind you don’t feel like talking to people?

• We should keep the expectation front and center that God is leading us, even when we don’t feel like it. Be conscious of His presence.
• Read the bible. Listen and sing with praise and worship music.
• Our thoughts are ours to control. If you desire godly change, godly transformation, take control of what you set your mind on. A man becomes as he thinks.
• If you have worry, anxiety and fear in your thoughts, faith is the answer. Remember, Your Father have you in His hands.