Followed By Mercy

Simple Bible Habits That Change Your Day

• W. Austin Gardner

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In this episode, “Standing Fast in Love,” we slow down with Philippians 4 and discover how ten honest minutes in God’s Word can reshape your home, your church, and your week.​


You’ll learn a simple daily rhythm you can use on your own, with your family, or in your small group: pray, read one chapter, ask four clear questions, and talk about what you find. Together we walk through Philippians 4, where Paul writes to people he deeply loves and shows a pattern the church desperately needs today—lead with love and work for unity.​


We explore what it really means to “stand fast in the Lord”: choosing people over pride, harmony over ego, and service over the need to be right. 
Calls us to a gracious restraint that refuses to tear people apart over small things, and how quiet criticism, complaining, and disputes slowly weaken our witness. Linked with Philippians 2, this episode points to the hope that God Himself is at work in us, empowering humble, honest conversations that restore instead of destroy, and teaching us to shine as lights in a divided world because the Lord is near.​


Listen in, try the ten-minute rhythm this week, and then share what God shows you through this passage. If this episode helps you find peace and courage in Christ, pass it on to someone who needs encouragement today and leave a quick review so others can find the message.

Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

Austin Gardner:

I am excited to hear from Robert today. We were already discussing a passage of scripture. Robert, just a real quick word for anybody listening to the podcast right now. You every morning have this little habit. Tell them about what you do in the mornings.

Robert Canfield:

Well, I just open my Bible and I I I pray before I open my Bible and I say, God, please speak to me because I still believe He still speaks. And I said, please show me something from your word. And so I'll open my word and uh I just read and listen. And whenever something pops out, I know it's the Holy Spirit showing, bringing things to remembrance, or bringing things to me, and I I I get excited and I try to study it out and just I just want to know what he wants from me in my life, and I just want to talk to him. And so I do that only a couple chapters, so it's not that much, it's not that long. And then I send out what I get to some friends.

Austin Gardner:

Well, I think that's the important part for people to catch on to. This isn't some long and drawn out thing that's hard for you.

Robert Canfield:

No, no. We actually I was thinking about that, and I was, you know, I've got three beautiful daughters, and we live in in the home of Faith and Lang and Sisame right now. We live in their basement, we're basement dwellers, but we were having dinner last night, and I don't know, the Lord just laid on my heart talking to my kids. Like, they're like, I don't know how to read my Bible, I don't know how to get something out of it. And we, after dinner, we just all got a Bible, and we just took a chapter. And there's a famous preacher, his name is he's he's in heaven now, and so he's perfect, but his name was Adrian Rogers, and Adrian Rogers says, when you come to the scriptures, he says, you ask four things. He says, Is there a sin that you need to confess and avoid? Is there is there a command that you need to obey? He said, Is there a promise you need to claim, or is there a lesson that you need to live out? Or I think that's what a lesson that needs to be lived out. And so I told the people, I said, whenever you come to your Bible, you pray and you ask God to speak, because he Jesus says while he was here, he said, You have ears and you don't hear, you have eyes and you don't see, and you're not seeking after me. And I'm paraphrasing that, but that's what Jesus was telling his disciples. And so I said, When you come to God's word, you just simply say, God, I want to hear from you. I'm seeking after you today. And I said, We're just gonna read one chapter, and we all read a couple verses, and it took less than ten minutes, and then I just went around the room and I just wrote around the table and I said, Okay, do you have something that you felt like the Lord said? And so they they discussed a verse, and I said, Well, you think that's a something you need to avoid, or is that a promise you need to claim, or is that that something that you need to? And so it was 10 minutes, and Lil Beckham, who's he's eight years old, he said, That was real simple. He said, That was real quick. So Well, he is he is a little bit smarter than normal, too, sometimes. Well man, he's a quick as a whip. He is an intelligent young man, but he even said it was just so simple, it's so quick. And so it was a good time after after dinner with the family and faith and length, their family to us, and so it was just a good time for us just to sit around. And I wasn't worried about saying, no, no, no, no, that in context. I really do believe that God works in our lives and he brings things to remembrance and he shows what's in our heart. That's what the word of God is, quick and powerful, and it can discern our thoughts and the intents of our hearts, and that's what it does, and so he helps speak through that. So I don't know if that answers your question, but I ramble along a lot.

Austin Gardner:

I think that they no, I think that's exactly what we want people to see and how interesting it is. And so this morning, when you were doing some of your Bible reading, you came across a word, and then you texted me as you, and I said, Why don't we share that with people? Because it it's it'll help them learn how to read their Bible, how to spend a little bit of time with the Lord, and how to be excited because I mean you're excited enough about it, and I'm glad you are. I think every Christian we ought to be happy about hearing from the Holy Spirit. You know, he lives in us. Everyone listening, you need to know this. It's a relationship. It's not about a king to a servant either. It's not about the Lord to a slave. I mean, we we can call ourselves that, but that's not what he calls us. He calls us family, he calls us sons, he calls us friends, and sure we are, but it's it's not it's not a dread fear, it's a delightful reverence, worshipful fear that we have of God. And so this is an exciting thing to just talk a little bit about how you read the Bible and how you learn from the Bible. And so I think what Robert's gonna do right now, Robert, if you want to just take over the screen and show them a little bit about what you do. And then now you're using a Bible software program. You don't have to have this. But we because we are pastors and and we've spent our lives preaching and teaching, we use a program called Logos Bible Software. Or as the as the wise people call it, logos. How do you say it, Robert? I'm not wise, so I don't know how I would say that.

Robert Canfield:

I know you you say it better than I do. No, I say logos. So I like that Tennessee Hillbilly con uh way of speaking. So logos and wash, wars. So those are the words I used. Well, yeah, make fun of me. I got you. I'm not making fun. I'm not making fun. So I was going through this, and I've I've preached this message, this passage, I don't know how many times. And so, anyways, I'll just go through it just so you so you can see it. So it said, Paul's writing the church at Philippi here in Philippians chapter 4. He says, My brethren, my brethren, dearly beloved. I like that word, dearly beloved and longed for. So he's longing for these people, he loves these people. My crown and joy, he's talking about this church there at Philippi. He said, Stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Stand fast.

Austin Gardner:

Everybody that's listening, watch the screen and notice where his mouse is as he's walking us through it.

Robert Canfield:

Yeah, and he says, stand fast, and you're supposed to be unmoved in the Lord. And now he's going to bring up something. He says, I'm you're dearly beloved, you're long for, I'm asking you to stand fast in the Lord. And then he goes and he starts calling people out. He says, I beseech you, was this how you say it? Eodius, and I beseech Sentica.

Austin Gardner:

Can we stop right there, Robert? Let's remind that. Robert just said this to you, but I I want to emphasize it. Go back to your screen there. That's great. Okay. I want you to see people that you see dearly beloved. Uh look at the screen again. And and and uh preachers ought not be very he Robert used the term called them out. But look who he said. He called them my brethren. Yeah. So you're, and that's what Timothy, he told Timothy, he said, When you preach to older men, treat them like you would your daddy, older men like you would your mother, young men like you would your brother, young women like you would your sister, family. He says, So they're therefore my family. And then he says, Man, I love you. Look at that. Dearly, Robert, see on Robert's screen, Robert, show him twice. It says, Dearly beloved, right there in one verse. And same verse. So he's he's he's reiterating something. He's telling him that he loves them a whole bunch. Dearly beloved, dearly beloved. And then he said, Robert called it out, but what'd that long for mean, Robert?

Robert Canfield:

Well, he's he's desiring that he could be with them. He's in prison right now, and he's not with them, and he wants to come and see them again, but he's he's not present with them at that moment. And so he's longing, he's desiring. There's a there's a there's a want to to be with these people. He loves them and he wishes he could spend time with them.

Austin Gardner:

Yeah. And then and then before we ever get to the preaching part, look how many times he said, I love you. He basically said, My family, I love you. I wish I could be with you. Then he said, You're my joy. You're not my weight, you're not somebody I gotta put up with. You're my joy.

Robert Canfield:

You're my embarrassment. Go ahead. Yeah, he it's he says, My joy and crown, he's not bringing up the embarrassment. He's called he's gonna call out in the in the sense why I use call out. He's going to he's going to talk to two people that seem to be at odds with each other. And before he calls the that's what I mean by calling out. He's he's saying, you guys that are in fighting, you people that are that that don't have the same mind.

Austin Gardner:

Because the Holy Spirit doesn't like the our father doesn't like it when the children are fighting with each other. Just like we don't we don't like it when you go home and your three daughters and they're cat fighting, you don't like that.

Robert Canfield:

Oh, no, I don't. And mom doesn't like it either. She calls them out. But when I call them out, I'm not dearly beloved. I'm more I'm more of a, I guess, a little uh uh probably too much, I don't know, preach in that, I guess I don't know. But but yeah, I I it is miserable when you have two people that are in the same family that are supposed to be on the same team that are fighting. It's miserable. Exactly. Very good. Peace is removed from the home. Yeah when there's people at wall at odds. And what Paul's saying, he's he's like, I don't know, it seems like he's buttering them up. You know what I mean? But I don't think he's he's coming off with some unsincere love. I think he really does care about these people. Yeah. I think he prays for them, and every remembrance that they come up to in his mind, he's like thanking God for them. And I think Paul actually was put in jail while he was at this town. He was actually beaten to take the gospel to this town. So I think he has a special place in his heart, this special church here at Philippi. So for him to think that he doesn't care, these aren't just fluff, but he's he's he's demonstrating and showing his love towards these people before he asks them to straighten some things out. And I think that's exactly what God does with us. I think it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. I think that we discover how great and wonderful God loves us and how much he cares for us and how he was willing that we shouldn't be in our own sins.

Austin Gardner:

Let me interrupt and say this to anybody listening. It's not just what Robert sees. The Bible says the goodness of God leads us to repentance. Not the meanness of God, but the goodness of God. And so I think we ought to bear that in mind when we're dealing with other people, we're treating other people. All right, go ahead, Robert. So we haven't even gotten to the meat.

Robert Canfield:

Yeah. So he says, stand fast in the Lord. So he's telling them, don't waver, don't move. Stand fast, be unmovable in the Lord. And he's gonna show them what standfasting in the Lord looks like. A lot of times we think standfast in the Lord means I gotta hold to these traditions. Does that make sense? I gotta, I can't waver from this. But his standfast in the Lord has more to do with application, how you treat other people than it does anything else. Jesus stated that the greatest commandment that we can do is love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. That's what he says in the Gospels. And then he said the second one is as like that, that we are to love our neighbor. So when you hear that Jesus says that we're supposed to love God and the way we love others is just like how we love God. That's pretty powerful thought when you think about that. How we treat one another, John says, he says, you say that you love a God you've never seen, but you can't love your brother. I don't know if the love of God dwells in you. I'm paraphrasing all that, but that's the idea. How can you say that you love a God that you've never seen when you can't love and get along with people that you live with, who you do see and you do know, and you do know that God loves them and God gave him, gave his sons for those people. How can you get along with people? Or how can't you get along with people if you say that you love God? So that's that's all sidetrack, but Paul's telling these people to stand fast in the Lord, and then he says, verse 2, I beseech you, or I'm begging you, Eodius and Synthet, and I beg Syntica, that they be of the same mind and the Lord. Now that's an interesting statement to say they be of the same mind, but what he's stating right here is that he's wanting these people not to be fighting and bickering with one another. And sometimes in our lives, in our lives, it's easy for us to ostracize people that we find it hard to get along with. It's easy for us to grumble and complain and and murmur about other people that we don't get along with. But Paul's calling these people out and he's saying, Yodia, Syntheticate, I want you guys to work in harmony with the Lord. Stop being at odds with each other. And then he says, and I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help these women. Please help. He's talking now to the church. He's not just talking to the individuals, Eodius and Sentica. He's saying, I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also. So he's asking people to help with this problem that's going on. I don't know what it is. He doesn't name the problem, but he says that these people, their names are in the book of life. He says, help them. And then he jumps to this new paragraph, and then he goes through this, and this is interesting because I've preached this so much. Let me stop you, Robert.

Austin Gardner:

I got a question. It says, before we move on, I was just meditating over what you're saying, thinking about what you're saying. They're to be of the same mind. And that made me wonder if that's the mind he told us about in Philippians 2.

Robert Canfield:

Well, we could figure that out. With this, with this right here, this is very interesting. Okay, so at logos, so every word in the English language, they have some Greek word or Greek Greek phrase behind it. So I just make my right hand click and I find out over here that this is the Greek word. So I'm gonna do, I I I this is a part of this thing. I'm not gonna go all through the steps, but I'm gonna go to this Bible word study right here, and this is the word. I don't know if you heard that, but it's phroneo, okay? That is the Greek word that he says, the same mind. When you come over here, this is that phroneo, and this is how God used men of old to translate this word phroneo. He used mind, and he uses it in Philippians 2 2. Fulfill me that joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Austin Gardner:

Now, so that's that's interesting because when he told him, I want you all to be a one-mind, he wasn't saying you gotta agree on everything.

Robert Canfield:

No, no, he's what he's saying here, and if you it's very interesting because I think it's awesome how God worked through some men to translate from the Greek into the to my English language, the one that I know and understand that those men studied that word intensively, and God used and he worked through those men to find out that there was other meanings, and you know this better than anybody because you've lived in a different uh culture and a di with that had a different language, that you might have a phrase or you might have say a word, but there's different context, there's different meanings behind it. And so you've got to figure out what the what the context is behind it. And so these guys, these translators, have translated that froneo into several different words. So we can so right now in this day and age where I have all this information which can add sorrow, or I'm just gonna use it to try to understand God's word better, and I'm gonna try to use it to understand God's words better. I find out that the translators realize that that froneo, that Greek word, has different translations in the English language, like savor, like think and regarding and being like-minded, thinking, understanding. How about this? That froneo is also translated to set your affections on. And so when Paul comes back here, he says that they might be of the same mind. I'd like to take those words that I learned from that froneo, those English words, that these people might be like-minded, that these people might savor the same thing, that these people might think on the same thing, that these people might set their affection on the same thing. So something was happening with these two people, these two ladies, that they weren't in sync with each other. There was no what you I guess the word you could use is there was no harmony.

Austin Gardner:

And Paul's can I just say this that like mine is I'm gonna serve you. I'm gonna get off, I'm gonna get off my high horse because Jesus was on the throne, equal to God, and he didn't think it robbery to get off the throne. And so uh one of the reasons you and I fight, one of the reasons we could have disagreements and arguments is because well, it's about it's about what I think, and bless God, I'm right. And he said, No, no, let's be on the same mind. Both of you give up your rights. Go ahead.

Robert Canfield:

No, it's that's and when you think about what I my my rights and it's my wants, it's what I savor, it's what I desire. You know what I mean? What's the biggest flight that comes between husbands and wives? It's when you're in the car and you're saying, So, where do you want to eat? Right? And you're trying to figure out what she wants and she doesn't really care. She wants to try to figure out what you want, you know what I mean? You victor back and forth, or maybe maybe you have a specific want that you want and they don't want it. And so you're not savoring, you're not on the same link, if that makes sense. You're not on the same level. You're not, you guys aren't together, you aren't synced. And that's where contentions and fighting comes about. And so, like, when you think about standing fast in the Lord, what does that look like? Standing fast in the Lord means we are unified together with the brethren. Standing fast with the Lord means that we have a same mind in the Lord. It is very interesting at the first missions trip that I took when I went to Peru, it was almost 20 years ago, an old lady, Miss Glenna Wiltice, came up to me and she says, as you're traveling out there, the Holy Spirit's with you, and he's gonna show you who the real believers are, Robert. And you you you get close to around those real believers. That's what she said. This lady, her husband was Jack the Baptist Wiltyce. I mean, he was a great man. He's pastored, he retired, and he he had Parkinson's disease, and he was living out his faith, and I there was just a different glow about him, and she was a sweet lady that took care of her husband, and she was working with my mom, going into schools, trying to reach out to little kids and tell them the gospel. She was just a sweet lady, but she said something that was so profound to me. She's like, When you go out and you're in a different place, you find those believers, and the Spirit, he bears witness with us, and he tells us who the real people are, and you'll be able to figure it out. And he'll he's with you. That's what she said. And I was like, man, that's at the time I didn't really understand it. But now looking back, I was like, man, that was some profound wisdom from that lady, that saint. And what Paul's stating here is that when a believer is standing fast in the Lord, they are harmonizing with one another. They are savoring the same thing. They love the same God, they worship the same God, they're serving the same God, they're serving one another, they're loving each other, they're trying to project his gospel and proclaim his gospel to places that it's not been before. But something happened because we are human beings. Something happened between these two ladies, and they needed some help. And so Paul was reaching out to these people, those people that labored with them, and he says, help these women, get them back in sync. And then what really stood out to me was this next paragraph that he gives. And I preached this paragraph, I preached it a lot of a lot here on the East Coast and the places where I go and travel. How do you get people back in sync? How do you help out people? How do you stand fast in the Lord? We got to rejoice. And he says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. So we're not rejoicing in our happenstances, we're not rejoicing in our situations that we have going on in our life. Yes, our circumstances. We rejoice in the Lord always. And he says, and again I say rejoice. And then that word, this verse five, because this really got to me because I was like, then he tells the people we've spent 20, 20 minutes getting to what we were going to talk about.

Austin Gardner:

But you don't have to do this at home when you're studying your Bible, you don't have to dig in this deep. But Robert and I have enjoyed for years, I don't know, 15, 20 years, we have enjoyed just we like to just chew the fat about the Bible. And it edifies each of us, and that's what we're doing here. And so you don't have to do this every time. You can whenever you want to. In other words, and that's the deal. If you nibble a little bit, you're liable to eat the whole turkey.

Robert Canfield:

Exactly. Well, what I'm going to show you, this is taking 20 minutes, but when I was doing it, it was like three minutes. You know what I mean? I was just reading through it. I was like, wait a second. That word moderation, he says, rejoice, and we all know that word, rejoice in the Lord always. And then he says this, let your, that means y'all. I want y'all, the, I want this church, I want this church to be known unto all men about their moderation. Now that word moderation, like it always got me. You know what I mean?

Austin Gardner:

So what I did is I went to the It's not a word that we typically use in modern English.

Robert Canfield:

Yeah. And so like what I what I did was I found the oldest dictionary and I looked it up and I went through all the definitions and I found one that said equanimity, and it told me about having even kill. And so as I was thinking about that, I was like, okay, I want to know what this word really means. And I want to know, I want to go back to the original language that it was written in in the Greek. And so I went and I did my Bible word study, and I'm just going to show you what I did right here. I went to the Bible word study and I found out that it says Epikes, which is that's the Greek word. And then I went over here. This is it's called the B DAG. It's it's it's a it's a Greek dictionary, and it helps you understand.

Austin Gardner:

Those are called lectionaries, which is nothing more than a dictionary in those languages, the Bible languages here.

Robert Canfield:

Very good.

Austin Gardner:

B DAG is one of the most highly respected ones.

Robert Canfield:

In the yeah, in the evangelical realm, it's very respected. And so this right here, I want to zoom in if I can, so you guys can see it a little better. That word that we get moderation from says this. This is the this is the Greek lexicon, their their dictionary, the the way they define it, how it's used in in the Greek language, not insisting on every right of the letter of the law or custom. I don't have to have my way. Yeah. I don't we get we we we nitpick at people. We nitpick at people, and I'm gonna say that because a lot of times when we see a conflict happen in our life, it's because we we take a person, we put them underneath a microscope, and we begin to pick them apart. And we hold we hold them to the law to every letter, and they're like, they didn't do this, they didn't do that, they didn't do this, they didn't do this. They messed up in that, they messed up in that. And if you want to have a relationship with a person that's not going to be peaceful, if you want to have a relationship or a community where people are full of fighting and and and not harmonious, if that makes sense, no, no harmony, then insist on them keeping every letter of the law. In your way of interpreting. And you think about that. I when I look and I have there's conflict with somebody that I have, even in my family, I'm like, well, they're doing this, they're doing that. And it's like it's me setting myself up as a judge, and I am picking them apart, and I'm saying, well, they didn't keep good with this, and they didn't keep good with that, they didn't keep good with this. And if you learn what real charity, what real love is, love is it's patience, it's long suffering. Is it not? Is it not me forbearing one another? That's what it says in 1 Corinthians 13, isn't it? Yeah. And so the steps that Paul's giving to these people, these this church that's supposed to help these women, he's like, okay, guys, we're gonna we're gonna rejoice in the Lord. That's what we're gonna rejoice in. That's what we're gonna do that always. And then he says, then you all, y'all, everyone here at this church, y'all gonna be known for your moderation. People will know you for and you go down here, your forbearing spirit.

Austin Gardner:

Uh you you know you skipped over the word tolerant. Well, yeah, and kind and gentle and courteous. You realize you realize that tolerant is a word that we typically don't accept. Now that's not tolerant of of wickedness and sin. It's just it's just learning to put up with each other, and that's what forbearing means.

Robert Canfield:

Paul wasn't putting up with these people being in contention and fighting with each other. He's called it out. Right? I mean Iodus and Synthic, they were they weren't having a same mind, and he's telling other people to step in. Paul's calling it out, but yet he did it so loving and so caring, did he not? My dearly beloved, my dearly beloved, my long for, my good, my joy, my crown. Isn't that what he said about these people? He's pretty sweet. And then he says, I want you guys to stand fast in the Lord. Here's the real problem you guys have wavered from what God wants you to be doing. And just so you know, what God wants you to do is this He wants you to rejoice in Him, and He wants you to be tolerant, He wants you to be kind, and He wants you to be gentle, He wants you to forbear one another. Now, people do wrong all the time And I'm not saying to say that we take their sin and we don't No, we there is a way, there is a process that God set up for His for His kids to deal with problems. If I have an issue with the brother, Jesus told me to set my gift aside and go to that brother. And if that brother doesn't listen, then I'm I'm supposed to go with two people. And if he doesn't go with two people, then I'm supposed to take it before everybody. But even when Paul was telling the whole church to take care of all this thing right here, he did it in such a loving and gracious way. And his steps were were this if we're gonna get along and we're gonna have peace and unity in this church, we're gonna have real lasting joy, we're gonna rejoice in the thing that we need to rejoice in. We rejoice in the Lord. And not only do we rejoice in the Lord, but it we will be known for the forbearing spirit, the tolerance, the kindness, the gentleness that we have. And notice who he says that we're supposed to have this moderation too. All men that means everyone. I look and see and I like to keep up with stuff that's going on in in in in what is it called politics and the current events. I've always been big into current events. And I see I see in America it's it's almost like it's divided right down the middle. It's divided in two. And I do believe there's wickedness and evil being done. But yet I see the the spirit in which people are going after other people. And I wonder sometimes, and I'm not saying we're gonna condone sin or say, yeah, what you're doing, you're living right. Yeah, what you're doing. No, no, no. But what I wonder is are we being forbearing with the one another? I mean, we're quick to call out sin in other people's lives, but are we Quick to show them the truth and how to get back to the truth? We're quick to call people and label people and say that they're this and that, and we're quick to say we're going to turn them over to God, but yet do we pray and ask God to bless them and ask God to bring them their eyes to understanding to remove the blinders? I mean, I don't know, I don't know if America is known for their moderation.

Austin Gardner:

Well, the idea here of moderation is that we would be working with each other, not against each other.

Robert Canfield:

Exactly. How much more so should it be in God's house? If we have the same dad, if we have the same purpose, if we have the same Holy Spirit, if we're have we been baptized into multiple Holy Spirits? Have you been baptized? I mean, I mean, or is there one gospel? Is there one God? Is there one Holy Spirit? And that He's residing in all of us. Shouldn't there be a man? I'm trying to get along with these people.

Austin Gardner:

Well, there ought to be about us the very word gentleman comes, it ought to be that ought to be a Christian word. Amen. And so we should be kind and gentle and good to each other. And people ought to be like, yeah, they're a very kind people. And I'm sad to say that often that's not the case, as we all know.

Robert Canfield:

And most of the times when there's when there's a fight, we are quick with our mouths to say things, to bring up things, to judge things, if that makes sense. And we're not slow to speak. And there is no forbearance. And there is no one thing I've learned in in what yesterday we brought about in my Bible reading, I was in Philippians chapter 2, that the Bible tells me that you know God is working in me both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Yep. And God's working not just in me, but he's working in you. Brother Gardner. He's working in you, Austin. He's working in everyone that's working right now. Everyone that out there, he's he's working in in their lives. Because of that, because he's working in this, the next verse says, Do all things without murmuring and disputing. And I was just looking up that word disputing, and I was like, man, I was I was intrigued. That word murmuring is back scene talking. Don't go behind the back scenes and start talking bad about things. And don't go disputing. Don't use your your reasoning to start questioning and start saying this shouldn't happen or that shouldn't happen. Do everything without that. And so when God, God's at work right now, we know that, do we not? I mean, he was at work in the Old Testament when Israel was taken into captivity. He still was working. He was working through wicked kings. And he has a plan and he's working out his plan and everything. And so my goal, my desire is not just to say, hey, God, this is my plan. You're not following along with my plan. You're not going with my wants. You're not going to do this and this and this. And then me in the back scene starts murmuring and bickering and saying, I can't believe that this has happened in my life, or this doesn't even make sense what this is going on, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, no. There needs to be a realization of, yeah, God's working in me to put wills in there and to do of his good pleasure. And I'm seeking after his good pleasure.

Austin Gardner:

I know we've gone a long time, David. That's okay, but could you bring that verse up? Show them that verse on the screen about no murmuring.

Robert Canfield:

That's in Philippians. We'll go to chapter 2, verse 13 and verse 14. So it's God that worketh in you, both to will and the do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings. Just so you know I wasn't lying about that. I go to that word study again. That word study is behind scene, behind the scenes talk, a negative aspect of complaint, displeasure, expressed in murmuring. It's often uttered and made in low tone of voice.

Austin Gardner:

That's a beautiful thing. I mean, you realize what you're saying. Go back to that verse, read it. Do all things without complaining.

Robert Canfield:

Yeah.

Austin Gardner:

Stop. Stop whining, stop the victim talk. I've been guilty of being like that. And boy, what you're showing us, I mean, it's the Holy Spirit's guiding our little Bible study. It's powerful.

Robert Canfield:

It is. And it was it's been great. I mean, I just asked him what the what he still talks today. He really does. And he knows what's going on in Robert's heart, and he can discern my thoughts and my intents of my heart. He really does. And that murmuring is that's that same thing that we do when the boss didn't allow this to happen, didn't give us this, he didn't give us this raise, boy, whatever. And then we go away from the boss, and then we just talk negative talk. That's what it is. It's the it's it's you not going out there and proclaiming it to everybody, but yet you just I'm just voice, I'm my I was telling my wife, and she goes, Oh, in 2023 or 2025, it's it's I'm getting I'm getting what is it called, counsel. That's how we that's how we phrase it. I'm just getting counsel. I'm just telling people my frustrations that I have with other things. And it's not you you getting counsel, it's you murmuring. It's you talking behind the scenes and saying, I'm not happy with this. This is going on. And God says, let everything that you do don't do that. Don't don't bring in that negative talk. Stop that. And then after I read that, then your TikTok popped up and you you were you were behind that. I think you were in front of the shed or something like that. You were talking about how how we're thinking on things and how our thoughts often come true. I do did you do that yesterday? I think so.

Austin Gardner:

So it's been three of a day, so I don't always remember what I've done.

Robert Canfield:

Well, well, it was great. So when I listened to it, I was like, man, this just fits in today, God. This is what you're telling me today. Stop whining, Robert. Stop complaining. Stop speaking negative. And then the You know, you know, we're not speaking negative about we do speak negative about other people, but a lot of times, you know what the negative comes back to who we're really frustrated with? It's we're frustrated with God. Oh man.

Austin Gardner:

And that's definitely what complaining is. I always said that do without murmuring, do without complaining. Because when you complain, you're really praising the devil and saying God didn't do things right.

Robert Canfield:

Is that not true? And and the verse before he says it's God that's working in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. So stop whining about it. And and that word for disputing, oh, that was just another thing. There's like what what we do is we have to justify ourselves. And so it's like when I was reading through that word, it's like the process of reasoning. It's it's a verbal exchange that takes place when conflicting ideas are expressed, dispute and an argument. It's it's it's this is what's happening, and this is why it shouldn't happen to me, and this is what I'm saying. And so God says, let everything be done, everything that you do, don't murmur and don't complain because I want you to be blameless and harmless, sons of gods, without rebuke. You I want you to be in the midst of a crooked and a perverse nation. And I want your lights to shine. I want people to look at you and say, Why is that person not complaining? Why is that person not reasoning away their troubles and their woes? There's something different about them. They're shining forth as lights in the world. And what Paul states in the next two chapters down, he's like, okay, guys, because God's got everything under their control, stop, stop with the nitpicking of other people. Stop pointing out every flaw in their life. Be gentle with them. Be considerate. Don't let don't hold everyone to the law. Let your moderation, let the fact that you can be tolerant with other people, let people have other thoughts, let people have other. We all have the same mind, but not everyone acts the same way. Not everyone has the same personality. Not everyone has the thing, and they don't do everything the way we do it. So there's this way that we have to learn to deal with people. And let that be known to everyone. And that's what he was saying today. And I was like, I was pretty taken back by that. I was pretty excited. It's when I preached it, I said, let your let your moderation be known to all men. And what I said was, is let your even kill, be even killed. Don't elevate your emotions too high or don't let them go way too low. And that's truth. There is a there is an equanimity. There needs to be like an equilibrium. But that equilibrium in this moderation term is this. I know how to deal with people. I'm not I'm not nitpicking them. I'm standing fast in the Lord and I'm loving that brother. And I'm I'm I'm showing them grace and I'm showing them love, just like God showed me grace and I showed me love. And yeah, they might be going down a wrong road. I'm teaching them. And I'm not just teaching them. I'm I'm requesting that all the brothers, all my true yoke fellows, that they would help these people too. Because so many times when we get in arguments or we get in debates and stuff like that, we don't care about the opposite side. What we care about is our point. And we care about being right. And that's what we're not, we are not supposed to be known for the rightness that we have. We're supposed to be known for the love that we show. And that's what Paul's stating right here to this, this, this church. And so that's what I got. I know that's a lot, but that I got that in just a little bit of time.

Austin Gardner:

Yeah. I told Robert, I said, let's go online and we'll we'll uh take my 10, 15 minutes and just let you share that. And then now my my timer's saying 40 minutes. And uh sorry about that. But it's been good. I've loved it, and it's really helped me. It's helped me grow because I want I want to be kind and tolerant, and I know I haven't been all my life, and I want my moderation to be known unto all men. And so I hope as you've listened today. And hey, he's stay at stay stay the last say the last statement at the end of that verse.

Robert Canfield:

The Lord is at hand, he's about to come. Is that not true? Yeah. I mean, do we want to be found fighting with each other when dad comes back?

Austin Gardner:

You know, you know, I that's a good point. And and hey, by the way, my my family grandchildren just walked in. They didn't know I was doing this, but uh hey, the Lord is at hand and the grandkids are at hand. And so uh, but anyway, you know, the Lord's coming. That's a good point. And and we we want to be doing right when we know, hey, he's fixing to open the door.

Robert Canfield:

So let's throw off those those deeds, those, those, those garments, and let's put on the garments of light, and let's be ready for them when he gets back.

Austin Gardner:

Well, I hope that's been a blessing to you today, and we'd love comments. If you'd like to write, you can write us and talk to us about it. We'll discuss it more at another time. Thank you for listening today. Any further words, Robert, before we stop? I'm gonna stop before I go another 40 minutes. Oh no. We'll do it again on another day. Thank you all for listening. God bless you. God bless you guys.

Robert Canfield:

Thank you, FA.

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Austin Gardner

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