Pints With Aquinas - 113: How do we rejoice in the Lord always?

Episode Date: July 3, 2018

Hey thomists, today I'm going to be reading a portion of Aquinas' commentary on Philippians.  Get your PWA tee, sticker, coffee mug and more at https://teespring.com/shop/pints-with-aquinas-swag Show notes as aways at PintsWithAquinas.com  SPONSORS EL Investments: https://www.elinvestments.net/pints Exodus 90: https://exodus90.com/mattfradd/  Hallow: http://hallow.app/mattfradd  STRIVE: https://www.strive21.com/  GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. LINKS Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/matt-fradd FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/ SOCIAL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattfradd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattfradd MY BOOKS  Does God Exist: https://www.amazon.com/Does-God-Exist-Socratic-Dialogue-ebook/dp/B081ZGYJW3/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586377974&sr=8-9 Marian Consecration With Aquinas: https://www.amazon.com/Marian-Consecration-Aquinas-Growing-Closer-ebook/dp/B083XRQMTF/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=fradd&qid=1586379026&sr=8-4 The Porn Myth: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Porn-Myth-P1985.aspx CONTACT Book me to speak: https://www.mattfradd.com/speakerrequestform

Welcome to Pints with Aquinas. My name is Matt Fradd. If you could sit down over a pint of beer with Thomas Aquinas and ask him any one question, what would it be? In today's episode, we're going to ask Thomas why we should rejoice in the Lord always, what that even means, and how we are to do it. Hey, good to have you back at Pints with Aquinas, the show where you and I pull up a barstool next to the angelic doctor to discuss theology and philosophy. Today, as I said, we're going to be discussing rejoicing in the Lord, how to do it, when to do it, why to do it, what it even means, all that kind of stuff. But before we do, a couple of things I want to say.

Number one, you've got a few more days to get your Pints with Aquinas shirt. See, we're selling Pints with Aquinas t-shirts for both men and women, and they are really beautiful. Think of it this way, if you don't get this shirt, you won't be noticed by an attractive guy or girl, whatever, and they won't ask you out, you won't get married, you'll die alone. You know, nobody wants that. So in order to avoid dying alone, go and get a Pints with Aquinas t-shirt now. We're also selling stickers and coffee mugs and tank tops, hey? You can work out with the big man on the front of you. According to an unidentified survey, Pints with Aquinas t-shirts make people look anywhere between 237 and 254% more attractive than they otherwise would. Now, I can't back that up. I'm just saying that's what I've heard,

again, from an unidentified survey. So go get yourself a t-shirt, would you? They're beautiful quality t-shirts. They're not cheap. I actually buy them for myself. So I made sure that the quality was what I wanted. So they're super soft and you know how sometimes you get those cheap t-shirts and the print is like plasticky. It's not like that. It's super beautiful. You're going to love it and you're going to look bloody beautiful. So I'll throw a link up in the show notes and I'm tweeting about it and Instagramming about it everywhere as well. Pints with Aquinas t-shirts, the greatest thing since sliced bread. We're going to have to change that soon because as everybody's becoming gluten-free and paleo, that is not going to resonate anymore. What are we going to have to

say? The greatest thing since, bugger, I don't know, Pints of Aquinas. There'll never be anything better. Okay. Second thing I want to tell you about is last week, the episode was called Modesty, Makeup and Boob Jobs know because we like to keep it classy here at pints with aquinas we had a we had around 25 000 downloads like we were a few hundred downloads short of that that's bloody insane one day 25 000 downloads essentially crazy man crazy i remember like a year ago if i had got 20 000 downloads in a month i would have been like whoa this is picking up but uh yeah, there you go. Apparently, my listeners are really interested in boob jobs and makeup and modesty. And I also had my awesome friend Emily Sullivan on. And so,

I know a lot of people are like, please do not tell me what to wear. And I will buy my Pines with Aquinas t-shirt. But no, no, no. But I get what you mean. And that's why I had a woman on the show and we discussed Aquinas' provocative things that he had to say and made some people upset. Most of you wrote to say and made some people upset. Most of you wrote to me and said you just bloody loved it. So go check that out if you haven't already. Okay. Now, my friends, check this out. You might not know this. Aquinas wrote a crap ton of stuff, obviously. I think you probably know that, right? A crap ton of stuff. He didn't just write the Sum Theologiae. He didn't just write the Summa Theologiae, he didn't just write the Summa Contra Gentiles. He's done like commentaries on epistles and the

Psalms and some of the gospels. And so today, I want to look at chapter four of Philippians and read you his commentary on it because it is really delightful. And hopefully, as I share with you my thoughts on Aquinas' thoughts on the Apostle Paul, you know, we'll all grow in our love of the Lord together because that's really what this is about. If Pines of Aquinas just gives you head knowledge without leading you closer to Jesus Christ, mea culpa, right? That is absolutely not the primary point of this podcast. We want to learn more so that we can love more, all right? That is absolutely not the primary point of this podcast. We want to learn more so that we can love more, all right? Okay, let's read directly from the epistle to the Philippians. Let's start at chapter 4, verse 4, okay? It's that very famous and very beautiful

line. He says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things and what you've learned and received and heard

and seen in me do, and the God of peace will be with you. That is so beautiful. And you could probably spend the rest of your life exegeting that, right? Applying that to our lives. But wouldn't it be cool if you knew what Aquinas had to say about it? Well, you do. And so let's read directly from his work on the Philippians, his commentary here. So, Aquinas says, and we'll stop throughout and I'll add my own commentary. He says, then when Paul says, rejoice in the Lord, he urges them to make progress. First, he prepares their mind to make more progress. Secondly, he arranges their activity in regard to the first, he prepares their mind in regard to three things. Secondly, he arranges their activity. In regard to the first, he prepares

their mind in regard to three things. First, in regard to spiritual joy. Secondly, in regard to spiritual rest. Thirdly, in regard to peace. In regard to the first, he describes what our joy should be. Secondly, he discloses the cause of joy. All right. Anyone who desires to make progress must have spiritual joy. There you go. How is that for a bloody beautiful tweet from Thomas Aquinas? Would you tweet that? Tweet that and just put like at Pints with Aquinas on Twitter and we'll retweet it hopefully. Anyone who desires to make progress must have spiritual joy. So, if you have thought up until now that if you are to be a saint, you are to be joyless, then let Aquinas correct you sternly, all now that if you are to be a saint, you are to be joyless, then let

Aquinas correct you sternly. All right. If you want to make progress in the spiritual life, he says, you got to be joyful. You got to be joyful. And then he quotes Proverbs 17, 22, a cheerful heart is a good medicine. Aquinas continues, the apostle touches on four characteristics of true joy. Okay. First, it must be right. This happens when it concerns the proper good of man, which is not something created, but God. And then from the Psalms, but for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Lord my refuge. Therefore, it is right when there is joy in the Lord. Hence he says, in the Lord. The joy of the Lord is your strength, we read in Nehemiah. Secondly, all right, the second characteristic of true joy is that it's continuous. And this is why Paul says, rejoice always. This happens when it's not

interrupted by sin, for then it is continuous. But sometimes it is interrupted by temporal sadness, which signifies the imperfection of joy. But when a person rejoices perfectly, his joy is not interrupted because he cares little about things that do not last. That is why he says always. Thirdly, it should be multiple. All right. So he's talking about four characteristics of joy here. All right.

So, so far, it's got to be right. It's got to be continual. And now he says it should be multiple. What does he mean by that? He says, for if you rejoice in God, you will rejoice in his incarnation. I bring you good. And this is from Luke. I bring you good news of great joy, which will come to all the people.

For to you is born this day in the city of David, a savior. And in your own activity, when justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous and in your contemplation. Companionship with her has no bitterness from the book of wisdom. Again, if you rejoice in your good, you will be prepared to rejoice in the good of others. If you rejoice in the present, you are prepared to rejoice in the future. Hence, he says again, I will say again, rejoice. Okay, so that's really cool. So, I wasn't that clear on what he meant by that, but that multiple. So, like your joy ought to be for a multitude of reasons, like the incarnation, your joy in contemplation, in acting righteously, the good of yourself, the good of others. All right,

so we should find joy in all these different things. Fourthly, here's the fourth characteristic of joy. It should be moderate and not flooded with pleasures as happens in worldly joy. Hence, he says, let all men know your forbearance as if to say your joy should be so moderate that it will not degenerate into dissoluteness. And he quotes Judith, the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary. Aquinas continues speaking of Paul saying, Paul says, let all men know as if to say, your life should be so moderate in externals that it offends the gaze of no one, for that would hinder your manner of life.

All right. I like this about our joy being moderate, because sometimes when we think of joy, we think of excess of emotion. And if you've ever been around someone who does that, and I've done it, you've done it, if you kind of go over the top, if you laugh in a way that's ridiculous, that isn't in keeping with what you just heard, if you're expressing a joy that's sort of anxious, you know what I mean? Like, oh my goodness, hi, hi. I think that's what he's saying to avoid, right? A true joy ought to be right. It should be be in the Lord, you know. We're not trying to seek joy in earthly fleeting things, though we can take some joy from them, but only in as much as they are as a result or of the Lord's will, right?

Who has providently allowed us to partake in them, I suppose. And our joy ought to be uninterrupted. Like that's perfect joy. I love the first thing he says there, right? That it should, basically what that means first and foremost is that it's not interrupted by sin. You know, and I know people who are joyful people who have led incredibly miserable, well, from all appearances, a miserable life. Let's put it that way. So my grandma, I've spoken about her from time to time because she really was an influential person in my life, a beautiful woman. Her name is Margaret Harris. If you've ever heard some of my talks, I always joke that my nan was a super Catholic.

She would always have her murder mystery novels right next to her prayer books and things like that. She was just a beautiful woman. She had ulcers in her leg and on more than one occasion, they had contemplated cutting off her leg because when you have ulcers on her leg, you know, and there were, there were more than one occasion they had contemplated cutting off her leg because it, you know, when you have ulcers on your leg, you basically have this living wound in your leg that's eating away and stuff. And so, you know, she lived a poor life, you know, like my mom would talk about how she would paint my mom, uh, not, she didn't paint my mom. She painted my mom's only pair of shoes. All right. So my mom only had one pair of shoes and And if she'd get a mask, my nan would paint them like black or she'd paint them white and she'd paint them, which just makes me want to cry.

Honestly, it's just so beautiful. But my point is, even though she suffered, she was joyful. And I think she was joyful first and foremost, because she was virtuous, that she didn't live a life of debauchery, frankly. And this is true in all of our experiences. When we engage in sin, we get titillation, we get pleasure, but we don't get joy. We get a sort of feverish delight that looks and is anxious. delight that looks and is anxious. Yeah. But Aquinas is saying this true joy, which should also be for multiple reasons, like for our good, for others' good, you know,

it should also be moderate. I really like that. So, that is to say, if you were to look at a lineup of people, the person who would be the most joyful would probably be the person who is the most peaceful. So you can't necessarily tell immediately from the external appearance about who's more joyful than who. Like someone can have a wide grin, they can have riches and a reasonably comfortable life and still not be truly joyful. Whereas you might look at somebody else and they might look old and bent over and in pain. This person can actually be joyful because they know Jesus Christ and they're living a virtuous life. It's that powerful stuff. So our joy should be moderate. All right, let's continue. Aquinas, continuing in his commentary of Paul says, then when Paul says the Lord is at hand, he touches on the cause of our joy. Here's a beautiful line. A man rejoices when his friend is near. Think about that. A man rejoices

when his friend is near. That's beautiful. I was having a cigar with my mate, John Henry, the other day. Shout out John Henry Spann, if any of you know him, one of the coolest, most manliest, awesome people I've ever met. Having a cigar together, man, and I just felt tremendous joy in his presence. We could speak without a filter. We could just speak as friends who care for each other's wellbeing. And I rejo I rejoiced, you know, because he was near. But I love this. Like, so when Paul says, like, here's the reason you should be joyful, right? Paul says, like, the Lord is at hand.

Aquinas is like, that's why you're joyful. That's why you're joyful because Jesus is near you, right? And he's your friend. And so you should rejoice. I love it. Aquinas continues, but the Lord is near with the presence of his majesty. And from the book of Acts, we read, he is not far from each of us. He is also near in his flesh. Okay. And this is from Ephesians, but now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have

been brought near in the blood of Christ. Again, Jesus is near through indwelling grace. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. And by his clemency in hearing, the Lord is near to all who call upon him. And by his reward, its time is close at hand and its days will not be prolonged. All right, so there you go. Don't you love Aquinas? I mean, he just marinated in the scripture here. That one line, the Lord is at hand.

I read that one. Oh yeah, cool. The Lord's near, beautiful. And Aquinas is like, and what that means is he's near in his majesty. He's near in his flesh. He's near in his indwelling grace. He's near in his clemency and hearing you, and he's near in his reward. Aquinas would say that God is nearer to you than you are to yourself. And there are good theological reasons for thinking that. That's not just a hallmark

expression to make you feel comfortable. That's actually metaphysically accurate. you feel comfortable. That's actually metaphysically accurate. So, think of it this way. His ears are at your lips. Now, okay, we're speaking analogically, okay? Analogously, obviously, right? Jesus, God rather, right? Doesn't have ears. Jesus does in the incarnation and so in heaven now. But what I mean is when we speak, think of it that way, right? His ear is at your lips. That's how close he is to you. We don't have to work ourselves up into some sort of anxious, emotional state. We don't have to pray for hours on end for him to hear us. We don't have to heap up words as Christ says. We have a father who knows us and loves us and wants what's good for us.

So maybe the next time you pray, you might sit down and think that to yourself. His ear is at my lips. And then speak to Him as a son would to his loving Father, who has only ever wanted good for Him and has only ever done good for Him. Now, this is different from our experience, because we are hurt by our earthly fathers and by other people. But when it comes to our Heavenly father, he is clearly perfect. Okay. Continuing, Aquinas says, when Paul says, have no anxiety, he shows that our minds should be at rest. First, that anxiety is uncalled for.

that anxiety is uncalled for. Secondly, what should take its place in our mind? It was fitting to add, have no anxiety after saying the Lord is at hand, as if to say, he will grant everything. Hence, there is no need to be anxious. Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, about your body, what you shall put on, Matthew chapter six. But this seems to be contrary to what is stated in Romans 12.8, quote, he that rules do so with solicitude. And then Aquinas says, I answer that anxiety or solicitude sometimes suggests diligence in seeking what is lacking and that is commendable and opposed to negligence. Sometimes it suggests anxiety of spirit with a lack of hope and with fear of not obtaining that about which one is anxious. Such anxiety the Lord forbids in Matthew chapter 6 because no one should despair as though the

Lord will not grant what is necessary. But in place of anxiety, we should have recourse to God. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5, 7. I think that's my all-time favorite scripture verse. And then Aquinas continues, and this is done, right? And having no anxiety, right? How do you do it?

He says, this is done by praying. Hence, he says, but in everything, let your requests be made known to God. Beautiful, hey? The Lord is near, and that's why we ought not to be anxious about things. Now, I like the distinction he makes there. So, when I say to you, or when Aquinas says, or when St. Paul says, don't be anxious, he does not mean be negligent. I am a father of four children. I am the husband of my wife, Cameron. There are certain responsibilities, certain duties that I ought to engage in, right? Like I'm responsible for her. I'm responsible for my kids. So I ought not to be negligent, right? So when Paul says, don't be anxious about anything, he doesn't mean

like lay in a lazy boy recliner and drink beer. Okay, necessarily. He means like there are certain duties to which we are called, which we ought not to shirk. If we do, then we'll be guilty of serious sin. If I don't take care of my kids, that would be mortal sin, you know, depending on how badly I neglect them. But what he is saying when he says don't have any anxiety is saying that we should always be hopeful that God's going to give us exactly what we need. Isn't that beautiful? I don't know what you're going through right now. I don't know if you're looking for a job and you can't find one. I don't know if you just got fired. I don't

know if you just found out your partner's cheating on you. I don't know if you just got fired. I don't know if you just found out your partner's cheating on you. I don't know if you've just discovered that you have some serious disease. I don't know if you've just discovered that a loved one is about to die. Obviously, we're going to feel sad, right? We're not culpable for what our mind doesn't direct. We might put it that way. Maybe you quibble with that a little bit, but I think that's a pretty good statement. But as a Christian, we can cast all our anxieties on him and trust that he cares about us. So again, if right now you've just been diagnosed with cancer or something, same thing's true. Cast all your anxieties upon him. Now you say to me, well, isn't that easy for you to say, mate, you don't have cancer? Yeah, it is easy for me to say. And I get that it's not at all easy to do. However, according to the God of the universe,

we ought to cast our anxieties on him. So that's why I'm saying you ought to cast all your anxieties on him, right? Is it difficult to believe that he cares for you when you're just going through a bunch of stuff? Yeah, it is. But the God of the universe told you to, so do it. Do it. This is the joy of the children of God, that we can trust that we have a loving father and make acts of trust even when our feelings don't follow. That is a difficult thing to do. That's a difficult

thing to do. And I'm terrible at it. Let me share with you something that happened recently to my wife and I. We were, gosh, man, I don't know how much to share. We've kind of been through a lot lately and I'm not even going to tell you the half of it. Okay. But my wife has been really sick. and I'm not even going to tell you the half of it, okay? But my wife has been really sick. You know, she nearly died last year. She has really bad endometriosis, and she ended up having to get a hysterectomy. We had no idea how we were going to pay for it

because our health care, now that I'm self-employed, yay, wouldn't cover it because it was a pre-existing condition, you know? So it was like 20 grand. Yeah, you're welcome. Good, okay. And then we didn't know what we were going to do for our housing. We've been living up in the mountains, renting a cabin, but our time was coming to a close and we were trying to buy a house, but we just had to pay all this money, right? For my wife. And we couldn't afford it. And I was at a pub with my wife one night and I was like, so anxious, dude. I was not,

it was not an attractive site. I wish I could say to you that I looked at my wife and I said, give glory to God. He will take care of us. But I was the opposite. I was an absolute wimp. I was just freaking out. I'm like, my wife's going to die. I'm going to be alone. I'm not going to have a house. I don't know how I'm going to raise my kids. I'm not going to have any money. Now, that might seem very dramatic to you, but it felt real to me. And that's the case, isn't it? Like whenever you're acting dramatic, it's probably because it feels dramatic, whether it is or not. And I think in my situation, there was reason to think that it may have been that dramatic. But my wife looked at me and she said, honey, trust in the Lord. He's got this. And I looked up at her and I wanted to swear it because I was like, oh, I know you're right. And

I know I should be the one saying that. And God, I love you. You know, my wife is such a virtuous woman. It's really easy to trust in the Lord when everything's going well. It's when everything starts to seem like it's falling apart. That's when it's difficult to trust. And I have seen my wife over the last few months do that so gracefully, so gracefully. Like we just bought this house about three months ago. And it's a nice home. It's on four acres. It backs up to a beautiful private creek and stuff.

And it was a great deal. And so my wife came down to look at the house and we were so excited about it. And it turned out that someone had put an offer on it. And she called me. And again, I went into my pity party. I'm like, oh gosh, I knew it. I was so upset, you know? And you know what she said to me? Honey, trust in the Lord. If he wants us to have this house, we'll get this house. He has a plan for us. That's what she's saying to me. She's really infuriating to be around when it feels like the

earth is crumbling under your feet. I'm only joking. It's actually brilliant to have her when it feels like the earth's crumbling under your feet. But I said to her, okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, later on that day, the offer fell through and there were three other offers prior to ours, but because their lady, real estate lady knew our real estate lady, they let us make the first offer. It was pretty crazy. Like it was pretty crazy. Anyway, all of this is to say, I'm not pretending to be above you guys in any way, shape or form. Like I need to grow in my trust in the Lord. But it was really neat to see my wife making a trust in God when she didn't have any obvious reason, at least immediately to think that everything would work out. So whatever you're going through right now, take a leaf out of

Paul's book and Aquinas' book and my wife's book. Don't take a leaf out of my book and just say, Lord, I trust in you. And I'm trying to get better at that, trusting him even when I don't feel like it. Aquinas continues in his commentary on Paul. He says, it's fitting after he says that the Lord is at hand to speak of petition, for it is customary to make petitions of a new Lord on his arrival. He mentions four things required in every prayer. Four things required in every prayer. First, that prayer implies the ascent of the mind to God. Therefore, he says, by prayer. The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds and he will not be consoled until it reaches the Lord. He will not desist until the most high visit him. That's from Sirach.

Okay. So, firstly, it applies an ascent of the mind to God. Secondly, it should be accompanied by confidence of obtaining and this from God's mercy. And he quotes Daniel, we do not present our supplications before thee on the grounds of our righteousness, but on the grounds of thy mercy. Oh, wouldn't that beautiful. So the reason we're confident it's not because of us, it's because of him. That's what he's saying. Therefore, Paul says, quietness is continuing, and supplication, which is an appeal to God's grace and holiness. Hence, it is the prayer of a person humbling himself. The poor uses entreaties, Proverbs 18.23. We do this when we say, through your passion and

cross. Thirdly, all right, this is the third thing prayer ought to have. Because a person who is ungrateful for past benefits does not deserve to receive new ones, he adds, with thanksgiving. All right, so our prayer ought to be thankful. That's why Paul says, give thanks in all circumstances. What's the fourth thing that prayer ought to have? The fourth thing is prayer is a petition. So, he says, let your requests be made known to God. Ask and it'll be given to you. If we reflect, we will notice that all the prayers of the church contain these four marks. First of all, God is invoked. Secondly, the divine benefits are thankfully acknowledged. Thirdly, a benefit

is requested. And finally, the supplication is made. That's what we say in our prayers. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Aquinas continues, but it should be noted that he says, let your requests be made known to God. Does not the Lord know them? Well, this is explained in three ways. First, let them be made known, that is approved in God's presence and counted worthy and holy. In the Psalms, we read, let my prayer be counted as incense before thee. Or we read elsewhere, let them be made known to ourselves. Let them be made known to ourselves. That is, let us recognize that they always reach God. As if to say, but when you pray, go into your room, shut the door and pray to your father, who's in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you. Or let them be made known to those who are with God,

that is the angels through whose ministry they are brought to God, not because he doesn't know them, but because they intercede for us. The smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hands of the angel before God. Revelation chapter 8 verse 4. So our wonderful, beautiful, lovely evangelical listeners there, there's a lovely reference there as to why we ought to believe that the saints are praying for us in heaven. I've done a whole episode on this if you're interested, but

that one line there from Revelation, the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God. So we have the saints praying, right? And these angels are offering it to God. Aquinas continues, then when Paul says, and the peace of God will keep your hearts, he asks that peace descend on the soul now instructed by the things said above. He asks this as though he were entreating. Peace, according to Augustine, is the tranquility of order. Isn't that lovely? What's peace? It's the tranquility of order. The tranquility of order. This is why I love my home to be ordered. And when it's not ordered, I don't feel peaceful. But of course, more important than our external surroundings is our internal disposition. We need order in our soul, right? The ordered man

is the virtuous man and the virtuous man is the joyful man. So, if you want to be joyful, get your house in order, get your inner life in order because then the externals won't matter so much, I think Augustine would say there. The disturbance of order is the destruction of peace. This tranquility of order is considered from three aspects. First, insofar as it exists in the principle of order, namely in God, for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, he who resists the authorities resists what God has appointed. That's from Romans. From that profound source in which peace exists,

it flows first into the beatified, in whom there is no disturbance, either of guilt or of punishment. Then it flows into saintly men. The holier he is, the less his mind is disturbed. Ha ha ha ha! Great peace have those who love thy law, Psalm 119. But it is more perfect in the beatified. Behold, I will extend prosperity to her like a river and the wealth of the nations

like an overflowing stream. Now, because God alone can deliver the heart from all disturbance, it is necessary that it come from him. Hence he says of God. And this in as much as peace considered in that source passes all created understanding. As it is stated in 1 Timothy 6.16, who alone dwelleth in unapproachable light. Behold, God is great and we know him not. The number of his years is unsearchable. Job 36. and we know him not. The number of his years is unsearchable. Job 36. As it exists in heaven, it surpasses all the knowledge of the angels. But as it exists in the saints on earth, it surpasses all the knowledge of those who lack grace. To him who conquers,

I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone. So beautiful, eh? I love it. The more holier you are, the more peace you'll have. That's what we all want, baby. Right? Like we all want peace. We might not say peace. What do we say when we say we want things? What do we say when we dream of happiness, man? I want money. And most of us recognize that that sounds superficial, but we kind of want money. Patreon.com. We want pleasure. We want power. We want security. These are the things we want. Why do we want them? For peace. Isn't that why you want security? So that you can have peace? Isn't that why you want money? So you can have peace? Isn't that why you want like pleasure to be interspersed among your afflictions? Isn't this why you want pleasure to be interspersed among your afflictions? Isn't this why you want ongoing pleasure, peace?

Isn't this what we want? Christianity has the answer. It has the answer. You want to be peaceful? Yeah, you do. You want happiness? Because I guess the two are synonymous in this instance. Be holy.

Be holy. And this is why Aquinas says, what does he say here? The holier you are, the less your mind will be disturbed. There's the quote, the holier he is, the less his mind is disturbed. This goes back to what Aquinas is saying earlier, that when we are joyful, we're not that interested in earthly things that pass, right? Because they pass. And so we place our joy in the Lord who doesn't pass and doesn't change. You want to get rid of anxiety? Now, I'm not talking about medical conditions where maybe therapy and medicine are required. Okay. I recognize that that might go beyond what we're saying here, but for many of us, that isn't what is needed,

what is needed that we trust in the Lord. And even if we are someone who needs medication to control some sort of neurological, what do you say, defect, we're also called to trust in the Lord. All right. Aquinas continues, and the peace therefore will keep your hearts. By the way, that word keep doesn't mean I've got it, you know, I'll keep it. Keep means to guard, right? It'll guard your hearts. That is your affections so that you will never depart from the good in anything. Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flows the spring of life, Proverbs 4. And your minds so that they do not deviate from the truth in anything. And this in Christ Jesus, by whose love your affections are kept from evil and by whose faith your mind

continues in the truth. All right, we're going to keep going here because I want to get to this. We only have a couple more paragraphs left, but the Lord is speaking to my heart through this. If you haven't been able to tell, I haven't read this prior to this podcast. I'm actually reading this for the first time with you. I looked into his commentary on the Philippians and I love this chapter here in four, these few verses. And so I wanted to see what he had to say. And the Lord is speaking to me and I hope he's speaking to you too. The peace therefore will keep your hearts, he says. Then when he says, finally, brethren, he puts order into their activity by urging them to do good. First, he mentions the object of action, namely the good,

which is done. Secondly, the mover to action. Thirdly, the act itself. Fourthly, the fruit of the act. These four things are mentioned here, Aquinas says, for the object of a good act is either the object of the intellect or of the affections. The object of the intellect is the true. The object of the affections is the good. Hence, he says, finally, brethren, that is, since you are so minded, think of whatever is true through faith, love, truth, and peace, Zechariah 8. In regard to an object of the affections, certain characteristics must be present of necessity in a good act, and others are over and above. Of necessity are three things for righteousness, for they shall be

satisfied, right? Matthew 5, 6. Thirdly, oh, I think I missed a line there. I'm sorry. Let me say that again. Of necessity, there are three things, okay? First, that the thing that we desire, right, is good in itself. This is why he says, whatever is honorable or chaste, okay? is why he says, whatever is honorable or chaste, okay? But the wisdom from above is first pure. Secondly, all right, here's the second thing, that it, the thing we desire, be directed to one's neighbor. Hence, he says, whatever is just, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied, right? Matthew 5. Thirdly, it must be ordained to God. Hence, he says, whatever is pure, holy, right? That we might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. That's from Luke chapter 1.

The characteristics over and above what is necessary are twofold. First, that it lead to friendship. Secondly, that it preserve one's good reputation. As to the first, he says, whatever is lovely, leading to mutual friendship. Do not shrink from visiting a sick man because for such deeds, you will be loved. That's from Sirach. There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. That's from Proverbs. As to the second, he says, whatever is gracious, right, of good fame. For many things can be done with a good conscience, but must be omitted for the sake of one's reputation. Have regard for your name, since it will remain for you longer than a thousand great stones of gold.

The mover to action is twofold. First, the impulse given by a habit existing within oneself. Secondly, discipline or instruction learned from someone else. As to the first, he says, if there's any excellence, that is any habit of virtue in you, let it incline you to this. From Sirach, rich men furnish with resources, living peaceably in their habitations. As to the second, he says, if there is any discipline, anything worthy of praise, that is praiseworthy knowledge in you, do good. All right. Here's a quote from the Psalms, teach me good judgment and knowledge. Paul explains what that knowledge is when he says, think about these things, namely what you have learned from my teaching, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.

Men, you received the word of God, which you heard from us. You accepted it not as the word of men, but as it really is the word of God, which is at work in you believers, 1 Thessalonians. And what you have seen from my example, thus the mover to action and its object are clear. And then finally, we're wrapping up here. Paul says, but because a discipline is obtained through doctrine, one must first acquire it. Hence, he says, think about these things. Then he must assent to it. Hence, he says, what you have learned and received, furthermore, it is acquired by hearing and sight. Hence, he says, what you have heard and seen. But there are two kinds of good acts.

One is internal, and he mentions it when he says to think about these things, that is meditate on these things. The other is external. Do, learn to do good, cease to do evil. So, those are what we're called to do. We're meant to be thinking about what is true, good, and beautiful. And then we are meant to do the good by ceasing to do evil, right? The fruit is God. This is why Paul says, the peace of God will be with you. As if to say, if you do all these things, God will be with you. Live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.

All right, that wraps it up. That last line, I want to say a word on that here, right? When he's talking about thinking about it, like think about these things like whatever's true what's honorable what's just what's pure what's lovely what's gracious if there's any excellence in anything think about these things um we act according to how we think uh we if we are immersed in sinful things, we will act accordingly. Or to use our Lord's analogy, right? You don't get good fruit from a wicked tree and a diseased tree. So how do we see to it that you and I remain undiseased in order to produce works of virtue, right? To produce good fruit.

Well, Paul tells us, think about what's honorable, what's just, what's pure, what's lovely, what's gracious. You see, we are attracted to what's true, good, and beautiful, but we can accustom ourselves to vulgarity. And when we do that, what is more true, more lovely, more gracious seems arduous to us. So if you have spent the last several months binging on Netflix episodes, you will be unlikely to sit down with the book, say the Lord of the Rings and read it. Even though the book, the Lord of the Rings is more beautiful and honorable and pure and lovely and gracious and excellent than those Netflix episodes. If you have accustomed yourself to drinking almost nothing but soda, yeah, like Mountain Dew, and eating awful foods that is just objectively bad for you, you're going to find it more difficult to eat a beautiful steak, you know,

you're going to find it more difficult to eat a beautiful steak, to drink water and fruit juice and things that aren't infused with high fructose corn syrup. Similarly, I think if we have just been numbing out on porn and Netflix and awful conversations, then we're going to act accordingly. Like sometimes people say, I can't memorize the scriptures or I can't, but the thing is we're memorizing stuff all the time. Like if you spend all of your free time watching The Office, then when someone says something, it might remind you of a that's what she said joke from Michael Scott. But if you immerse yourself in the scriptures, then when people say things to you or when you encounter things, it's going to remind you of the word of God. It's very difficult though, isn't it? It's very arduous to break from

convenient Netflix to reading beautiful things. It's difficult if you've only listened to sort of like trashy music, right? And even music that has talent, but still isn't as beautiful as other music. If you only listen to that, like the top 20 or whatever, how do you begin listening to Puccini or to Bach? How do you do that? How do you begin to enjoy it? You won't enjoy it because you've accustomed yourself to something less honorable. I think one of the ways our lives can be more beautiful, more orderly, more peaceful is if we begin to try to read beautiful books, to listen to beautiful music, to watch beautiful films, to be engaged in beautiful conversation, to converse with beautiful people. The more we do that, I think the more it'll build

up a disposition in us towards what's true, good, and beautiful. And we will then begin to act in a way that's just and honorable and pure and lovely. So maybe that's my final thought for today, for you and for me. Let's try to immerse ourselves in what's excellent and beautiful and not what's cheap and mass-produced and vulgar. All right. Thanks so much for listening to Pints with Aquinas this week. I hope it's been a blessing to you. I'm going to throw the text that we have read today up in the show notes and I keep the show notes over at pintswithaquinas.com. So be sure to check that out. If you like Pints with Aquinas, leave us a review on iTunes. and if you want to support the show and get free stuff in return,

please support me. It's been such an honor to get your support. It really has. Like the fact that people listen to the show is huge enough. The fact that people want to see it continue and expand and have decided to support me. Like some of y'all are supporting for like a dollar a month.

That's like 12 bucks a year and I'm like massively grateful some of you are supporting for more. If you can't afford it, that's okay too. Please pray for the show. Pray for the listeners. And yeah, looking forward to having a pint with you either in this life or in heaven. God bless you. Bye. Oh, and if one more person asks me who wrote this bloody song, I'm going to scream. It's my sister, Emma Fradd. Check out her band, Heaps Good Friends. Tell you what, I'll let you rock out to the rest of the song.

Okay? Emma Fradd, Emma Fradd, Emma Fradd. Bye. Who's gonna survive? And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you. And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you. And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you, to carry you, to carry you, to carry you To carry you To carry you Too many grains of salt and juice Lest we be frauds or worse accused

Hollow me to deepen in you Whose wolves am I feeding myself to? Who's gonna survive who's gonna survive who's gonna survive and I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you. And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you.

And I would give my whole life to carry you, to carry you, to carry you, to carry you, to carry you. There were birds in your tears falling from the sky Into a dry riverbed that began to flow down to A cross towering high up above the water And maple trees surrounded it leaves caught flame with golden embers