Chapter 20 - The Secret of Contentment (Philippians 4:10–19)

20 The Secret of Contentment (Philippians 4:10–19)

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (4:10–19)

Contentment is a highly prized, but elusive virtue. Though it comes only from being rightly related to God and trusting His sovereign, loving, purposeful providence, people nevertheless seek it where it cannot be found—in money, possessions, power, prestige, relationships, jobs, or freedom from difficulties. But by that definition, contentment is unattainable, for it is impossible in this fallen world to be completely free from problems. In sharp contrast to the world’s understanding of contentment is this simple definition of spiritual contentment penned by the Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs: “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition” (The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment [Reprint; Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1964], 19).

The Bible has much to say about contentment. For example, John the Baptist said to some soldiers who asked him how to manifest genuine repentance, “Be content with your wages” (Luke 3:14). To Timothy Paul wrote, “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (1 Tim. 6:8), a thought echoed by the writer of Hebrews: “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have” (Heb. 13:5). Paul was even “well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake” (2 Cor. 12:10), because he knew that the “godliness” produced by those trials “actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment” (1 Tim. 6:6). The Bible not only identifies contentment as a virtue, but also prescribes it as a command.

Before concluding this letter to his beloved Philippian congregation, Paul wanted to express his deeply felt gratitude to them. He had had a special relationship with them since the founding of the church at Philippi. At one point in Paul’s ministry many years earlier, they were the only church that had supported him financially (4:15–16). Now they had again sent him a gift, and 4:10–19 is Paul’s thank-you note to them for it.

The Philippians’ generosity was especially meaningful to Paul because it reached him during a very trying time in his life. He was a prisoner in Rome, confined to a small apartment (Acts 28:30) and guarded around the clock by a Roman soldier (Acts 28:16). He could no longer minister with the freedom he had once enjoyed. Being unable to work to support himself, he was in a dependent condition, probably existing on a bare subsistence level on help from generous friends. The only contact he had with the churches that were his constant concern (2 Cor. 11:28) was through letters or the occasional visitor who sought him out. Constantly looming over him was the anticipation of his trial before the emperor—the infamous Nero (cf. Acts 25:11–12, 21; 26:32; 27:24; 28:19). Commenting on this period in Paul’s life, F. B. Meyer wrote that he was “deprived of every comfort, and cast as a lonely man on the shores of the great strange metropolis, with every movement of his hand clanking a fetter, and nothing before him but the lion’s mouth or the sword” (The Epistle to the Philippians [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1952], 242).

Beneath the surface of Paul’s expression of thanks to the Philippians is the picture of a man utterly content in spite of such severe circumstances. In the direct statement of 4:9, Paul offered himself as an example of spiritual stability. In verses 10–19, as he thanked the Philippians for their gift, he indirectly offered himself as an example of contentment. Paul knew how to rejoice in every circumstance and be free from anxiety and worry, because his heart was guarded by the peace of God and the God of peace. His example is especially relevant to our utterly discontented culture.

Five principles of contentment flow from this seemingly mundane conclusion to Paul’s letter. A contented person is confident in God’s providence, satisfied with little, independent from circumstances, strengthened by divine power, and preoccupied with the well-being of others.

A CONTENTED PERSON IS CONFIDENT IN GOD’S PROVIDENCE

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. (4:10)

Ten years had passed since Paul’s ministry in Philippi had resulted in the founding of the church in that city. The Philippians had generously supported him when he left Philippi to minister in the Macedonian cities of Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:1–13). When Paul moved south into Achaia, the Philippians continued their support as he ministered in Athens and Corinth (Acts 17:14–18:18). As the years passed they had consistently been concerned about Paul, but lacked any opportunity to provide support for him. The reason for that lack is not given. Perhaps it was due to their preoccupation with their crushing poverty (cf. 2 Cor. 8:1–2). Or they may have been unaware of the apostle’s needs, or unable to locate him.

But recently opportunity arose when Epaphroditus arrived in Rome, bringing with him a generous gift from the Philippians (4:18) for which Paul rejoiced in the Lord greatly. He did so not primarily because the gift met his need, but because it gave evidence of their love for him. His joy overflowed that now at last, after ten years, they had revived their concern for him. The Greek verb translated revived is a horticultural term describing a plant flowering again. The Philippians’ generous affection for Paul, after lying dormant for nearly ten years, had once again bloomed. The apostle’s statement indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity was intended to allay any misunderstanding on the Philippians’ part. Paul knew they were concerned before this, but he understood that they had lacked the opportunity to support him (cf. 2 Cor. 8:12).

Paul’s gracious attitude reflects his patient confidence in God’s sovereign providence. He was certain that God in due time would arrange his circumstances to meet his needs. There was no panic on his part, no attempt to manipulate people, no taking matters into his own hands. Paul was content because he knew that the times, seasons, and opportunities of life are controlled by the sovereign God “who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11), thereby causing “all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Those who seek to control their own lives will inevitably be frustrated. A confident trust in God’s providence is foundational to contentment.

Providence and miracle are the two ways God acts in the world. A miracle is God’s direct, sovereign intervention into the natural world. It is an event so contrary to the normal course of events that there is no scientific or naturalistic explanation for it other than the power of God. There is no natural insight to explain the parting of the Red Sea, restoring the sight of those blind from birth, or raising people from the dead.

On the other hand, God’s providence is not miraculous in the sense that it interrupts the natural order. Rather, it allows for all the contingencies, events, words, acts, decisions, and elements of normal life. God supernaturally weaves them all together to fit His purpose exactly. This is as supernatural as a miracle. Solomon acknowledged God’s providential control over events when he wrote, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9; cf. 19:21; Jer. 10:23; Acts 4:27–28; Phil. 2:13). God providentially arranged for Joseph to rise to a high position in Egypt to preserve His people. As he explained to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive” (Gen. 50:20). God also providentially arranged for Esther to be in a position to save Israel, as Mordecai reminded her: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” (Est. 4:14).

An understanding of God’s sovereign, providential control of events is critical to contentment.

A CONTENTED PERSON IS SATISFIED WITH LITTLE

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. (4:11)

Lest the Philippians misunderstand his statement in verse 10, Paul quickly added a disclaimer. He did not mean to imply that he spoke from want when he thanked them for their gift. In fact, he had learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself. Though his situation was extremely difficult, Paul was not discontent. It did not matter that he was a prisoner, living in a small apartment, chained to a Roman soldier, subsisting on a sparse diet. None of that affected his contentment, because he was satisfied with what little he had. His contentment was not affected by his physical deprivations.

The Greek word translated content in verse 11 appears only here in the New Testament. In extra-biblical Greek it was used to speak of being self-sufficient, having enough, or not being dependent on others. One ancient writer used the word in reference to a country that supplied itself and had no need of imports. True contentment comes only from God, and enables believers to be satisfied and at ease in the midst of any problem.

The contented attitude of someone like Paul or the Shunammite woman, who when asked what she needed replied simply, “I live among my own people” (2 Kings 4:13), is incomprehensible to today’s society. People are not content with either little or much. In fact, it seems that those who are the wealthiest are often the most miserable and discontented. Instead, people are obsessed with delineating their needs and loudly demanding that they be met. Need has become the number one value in our culture. Starting from the humanistic premise that God does not exist and man is therefore ultimate, the goal of life for people becomes getting their needs met.

Adding to the discontent is the blurring of the distinction between needs and wants. In actual practice, virtually everything has become a “need.” Thus, men “need” better jobs, fancier cars, and bigger homes; women “need” careers outside the home, and, paradoxically, “need” children; young people “need” unending sexual encounters to liberate their repressed egos; children “need” the freedom to express themselves outside the “bondage” of parental control. Like a hamster running around and around on a wheel and going nowhere, people desperately chase the contentment that is always tantalizingly just out of reach. Even the church has begun to build its ministry around people’s “felt needs.”

But Paul knew that the chief end of man is not to have his needs met, but to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Because of that, he was satisfied with whatever God graciously granted him. As he wrote to Timothy, “If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (1 Tim. 6:8). Although he wrote to the Corinthians, “The Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14), Paul often chose not to exercise that right (cf. Acts 20:34; 1 Cor. 9:12, 15; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8). He worked hard, and was content to let God control the results. When difficult times came, Paul remained content because he was satisfied with little.

A CONTENTED PERSON IS INDEPENDENT FROM CIRCUMSTANCES

I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. (4:12)

Paul expands on what he alluded to in the previous verse. The twice-repeated phrase I know how . . . I also know how reveals that he had learned by experience and spiritual maturity to live above his circumstances and not to let them affect his contentment. That is an important lesson for believers to learn, for it is the difficult circumstances in life that most frequently steal our contentment.

Paul’s statement I know how to get along with humble means, to be hungry, and to suffer need indicates that he had had his share of poverty. He knew what it was to get by with meager material things. He also knew how to live in prosperity, to be filled, and to have an abundance when God graciously granted him more than he needed. All six of those terms refer to the material, earthly needs of this life, not to spiritual needs.

Paul was no ivory tower theologian; he had lived and ministered in the trenches. His life was not exactly a testimonial for the prosperity gospel. The apostle’s trials began at Damascus shortly after his conversion. Enraged that Paul

kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ, . . . the Jews plotted together to do away with him, but their plot became known to [Paul]. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. (Acts 9:22–25)

At Lystra on his first missionary journey, hostile “Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead” (Acts 14:19). Many of the Philippian believers no doubt remembered what happened to Paul and his fellow preacher Silas in Philippi:

The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. (Acts 16:22–24)

Things did not get much better for the apostle in Thessalonica, where

the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them. The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. (Acts 17:5–10)

Trouble, in the form of hostile, unbelieving Jews, followed Paul from Thessalonica to Berea: “But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds” (Acts 17:13). Forced to flee Berea, Paul went to Athens, where he was mocked and ridiculed by the skeptical Greek philosophers gathered on Mars Hill (Acts 17:18–34). From Athens the apostle went to Corinth where, “while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat” (Acts 18:12). After ministering for three months in Greece, “a plot [to kill Paul] was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria” (Acts 20:3). When he got to Jerusalem, Paul was attacked and savagely beaten after Jews from Asia Minor recognized him in the temple (Acts 21:26–30). Rescued from certain death by the quick action of a Roman officer (Acts 21:31–35), Paul began his long stay in Roman custody. Two years later, after hearings before the Sanhedrin and the Roman governor failed to resolve the situation, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar. After a harrowing sea voyage, which included a terrifying, two-week-long storm that ended in a shipwreck (Acts 27), Paul finally arrived in Rome (Acts 28). As he penned this letter to the Philippians, Paul was again a prisoner in Rome.

Summing up his arduous, difficult, painful life Paul wrote,

Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands. (2 Cor. 11:23–33)

In all Paul’s unique and constant sufferings, he had learned the secret of rising above them. In the midst of all his trials, he kept his focus on heavenly realities (cf. Col. 3:1–2). In 2 Corinthians 4:17, the apostle wrote, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.” With that perspective, is it any wonder that no amount of pain, suffering, or disappointment could affect his contentment?

A CONTENTED PERSON IS STRENGTHENED BY DIVINE POWER

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (4:13)

No matter how difficult his struggles may have been, Paul had a spiritual undergirding, an invisible means of support. His adequacy and sufficiency came from his union with the adequate and sufficient Christ: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal. 2:20).

When Paul wrote I can do all things he had in mind physical, not spiritual things. Ischu (I can do) means “to be strong,” “to have power,” or “to have resources.” It is variously translated “overpowered” (Acts 19:16), “prevailing” (Acts 19:20), and “effective” (James 5:16). The Greek text emphasizes the word translated all things (a reference to physical needs; cf. vv. 11–12) by placing it first in the sentence. Paul was strong enough to endure anything through Him who strengthen[ed] him (cf. 1 Tim. 1:12; 2 Tim. 4:17). The apostle does not, of course, mean that he could physically survive indefinitely without food, water, sleep, or shelter. What he is saying is that when he reached the limit of his resources and strength, even to the point of death, he was infused with the strength of Christ. He could overcome the most dire physical difficulties because of the inner, spiritual strength God had given him. In the words of Isaiah,

He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. (Isa. 40:29–31)

Perhaps the clearest illustration of this truth in Paul’s life comes from 2 Corinthians 12:7–10:

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul was tormented by a “thorn in the flesh,” most likely a demon who was behind the false teachers tearing up his beloved church in Corinth. This was the worst of all trials for him, because of his “concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:28). He repeatedly begged the Lord to deliver him from the torment of that demonic attack on the church. But instead of delivering him, the Lord pointed Paul to the sufficiency of His grace. Contentment comes to believers who rely on the sustaining grace of Christ infused into believers when they have no strength of their own. In that sense, contentment is a by-product of distress.

Lest any doubt the sufficiency of Christ’s strengthening power, it is the same power Paul described in his prayer in Ephesians 3:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man. . . . Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us. (Eph. 3:14–16, 20)

God’s power that indwells believers is far more than sufficient to strengthen and sustain them in any trial. Contentment belongs to those who confidently trust in that power rather than in their own resources. Jeremiah Burroughs observes,

A Christian finds satisfaction in every circumstance by getting strength from another, by going out of himself to Jesus Christ, by his faith acting upon Christ, and bringing the strength of Jesus Christ into his own soul, he is thereby enabled to bear whatever God lays on him, by the strength that he finds from Jesus Christ. . . . There is strength in Christ not only to sanctify and save us, but strength to support us under all our burdens and afflictions, and Christ expects that when we are under any burden, we should act our faith upon him to draw virtue and strength from him. (The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, 63)

It is important to note that only those who live lives of obedience to God’s will can count on His power to sustain them. Those whose continued sin has led them into the pit of despair cannot expect God to bring them contentment from their circumstances. In fact, He may even add to their difficulties to chasten them and bring them to repentance.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones compares the flow of God’s power into the believer’s life to the issue of physical health:

Now I suggest that that is analogous to this whole subject of power in one’s life as a Christian. Health is something that results from right living. Health cannot be obtained directly or immediately or in and of itself. There is a sense in which I am prepared to say that a man should not think of his health as such at all. Health is the result of right living, and I say exactly the same thing about this question of power in our Christian lives.

Or let me use another illustration. Take this question of preaching. No subject is discussed more often than power in preaching. “Oh, that I might have power in preaching,” says the preacher and he goes on his knees and prays for power. I think that that may be quite wrong. It certainly is if it is the only thing that the preacher does. The way to have power is to prepare your message carefully. Study the Word of God, think it out, analyse it, put it in order, do your utmost. That is that message God is most likely to bless—the indirect approach rather than the direct. It is exactly the same in this matter of power and ability to live the Christian life. In addition to our prayer for power and ability we must obey certain primary rules and laws.

I can therefore summarise the teaching like this. The secret of power is to discover and to learn from the New Testament what is possible for us in Christ. What I have to do is to go to Christ. I must spend my time with Him. I must meditate upon Him, I must get to know Him. That was Paul’s ambition—“that I might know Him.” I must maintain my contact and communion with Christ and I must concentrate on knowing Him.

What else? I must do exactly what He tells me. I must avoid things that would hamper. If in the midst of persecution we want to feel as Paul felt, we must live as Paul lived. I must do what He tells me, both to do and not to do. I must read the Bible, I must exercise, I must practise the Christian life, I must live the Christian life in all its fullness. (Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965], 298–99)

God’s power will bring contentment to those who have no strength of their own, but only if they have been living righteously. There is no quick fix, no shortcut to contentment. It comes only to those strengthened by divine power, and that divine power does not come from counselors, therapy, or self-help formulas, but only from consistent godly living.

A CONTENTED PERSON IS
PREOCCUPIED WITH THE WELL-BEING OF OTHERS

Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (4:14–19)

A final strand in the tapestry of contentment woven by Paul is concern for others. Those who live only for themselves will never be content, because contentment for them can come only when their circumstances are exactly as they want them to be. And that will never happen. Only those who unselfishly put others’ well-being above their own will find contentment. Paul prayed that the Philippians’ “love may abound still more and more” (1:9); one of the qualities of true biblical love is unselfishness (1 Cor. 13:5). He also exhorted them, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (2:3–4). That is the attitude “which was also in Christ Jesus” (2:5); if He had looked out only for His own interests, he would never have left heaven to sacrifice Himself for sinful, fallen people.

Nevertheless introduces an important transition in Paul’s thought. What he had written in verses 10–13 could easily have sent the wrong message to the Philippians. Despite their poverty (cf. 2 Cor. 8:1–2), they had sent a sacrificial gift to Paul through Epaphroditus (4:18). After staying in Rome for a while and ministering to the apostle, Epaphroditus had returned to Philippi, bringing this letter from Paul with him. In it the church would read, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am”; “I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need”; and “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (4:11–13). If the letter had ended at that point, the Philippians would have concluded that Paul neither needed nor appreciated their sacrificial gift to him.

To make certain that the Philippians did not misunderstand him, Paul hastened to reassure them that they had done well (kals; something noble or beautiful in character) to share with him in his affliction. But he then needed to explain to them how their gift could have been a noble act if he did not need it.

Paul began by taking his readers back ten years to his first preaching of the gospel in Philippi. During that time, and even after he left Macedonia for the Achaian cities of Athens and Corinth, no other church shared with him in the matter of giving and receiving. That phrase reflects business terminology. The word translated matter is sometimes translated “accounts” (Matt. 18:23; 25:19) or “accounting” (Luke 16:2) and the terms giving and receiving can mean “credit” and “debit.” Evidently Paul was a careful steward of his resources and kept an account of his receipts and expenditures. Even before he left Macedonia the Philippians supported him; during his ministry in Thessalonica they sent a gift more than once for his needs. Their generosity, along with Paul’s own hard work, allowed him to minister free of charge in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8) and Corinth (Acts 18:5; 2 Cor. 11:8).

Paul could rejoice over their gift yet still be content in God’s sovereign provision for him because he was selfless. That selflessness led him to write, Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account (cf. Matt. 6:19–20; 1 Tim. 6:17–19). Their gift brought Paul joy not because of its personal material benefit to him, but because of its spiritual benefit to them. The principle that those who give generously will be blessed is taught repeatedly in Scripture. Solomon wrote, “There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered” (Prov. 11:24–25). Later in Proverbs he added, “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deed” (Prov. 19:17), “He who is generous will be blessed” (Prov. 22:9), and “He who gives to the poor will never want” (Prov. 28:27). In Luke 6:38 Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” To the Corinthians Paul wrote, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6). Paul himself was an example of one who generously gave to the poor, as he reminded the Ephesian elders: “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35).

Three statements summarize Paul’s joy and gratitude. The Greek verb in the phrase I have received everything in full was commonly used in a commercial sense in extra-biblical Greek to denote payment in full. This statement is in effect Paul’s receipt to the Philippians for their gift. Have an abundance translates a Greek verb that means “to overflow,” “to have an excess,” or “to have more than enough.” The Greek verb in Paul’s final statement I am amply supplied speaks of being filled up completely. Taken together those three phrases show that Paul, having received from Epaphroditus what they had sent to him, was over whelmed by the Philippians’ generosity.

Using sacrificial language from the Old Testament, Paul described the Philippians’ gift as a fragrant aroma (cf. Gen. 8:20–21; Ex. 29:18; Lev. 1:9, 13, 17; Num. 15:3), an acceptable sacrifice (cf. Lev. 19:5; 22:29; Isa. 56:7), well-pleasing to God (cf. Ps. 51:19). Paul saw the Philippians’ gift as a sacrificial act of worship to God. Such spiritual sacrifices are required of New Covenant believers instead of the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant. In Romans 12:1 Paul commands believers, “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” The writer of Hebrews exhorts, “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Heb. 13:15–16). Peter reminds believers that they are “a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:5). Paul’s joy that the Philippians would make such an acceptable sacrifice to God far surpassed his joy at receiving their gift.

Paul knew that the Philippians would not only receive spiritual blessings in heaven for their generosity, but also that God would supply all their physical needs in this life. The Philippians had sacrificially (cf. 2 Cor. 8:1–3) given of their earthly possessions to support God’s servant, Paul. In return, God would amply supply their needs; He would not be in their debt. Having sown bountifully, they would reap bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6); having “honor[ed] the Lord from [their] wealth and from the first of all [their] produce . . . [their] barns will be filled with plenty and [their] vats will overflow with new wine” (Prov. 3:9–10). They would discover that it is impossible to outgive God.

The phrase according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus reveals the extent to which God would supply the Philippians’ needs. He would do so according to His riches, not out of them; His giving to them would be relative to the immensity of His eternal wealth, that is, as generously as is consistent with His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. The New Testament repeatedly presents Christ Jesus as the source of all of God’s riches. In Him “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3); to the Colossians Paul wrote, “For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him. . . . For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form” (Col. 1:19; 2:9). “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). In Ephesians 1:23 the apostle described Jesus as “Him who fills all in all,” and he reminded the Corinthians of “the grace of God which was given [them] in Christ Jesus, that in everything [they] were enriched in Him” (1 Cor. 1:4–5). Echoing that thought, Peter wrote, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3).