The Apostle Paul “learned the secret” of contented dependence upon God. He was content when “suffering need.” He didn’t become disillusioned, or discouraged, or angry or restless or miserable. He didn’t whine about his pain or complain about his suffering, or gripe about how worse off he was than others. He didn’t take things into his own hands, or use dishonesty or deception or manipulation in order to escape his circumstances. He trusted God.

He was also content when enjoying an “abundance.” He didn’t go overboard. He didn’t covet still more. He didn’t turn wealth into an idol. He didn’t forget God or become puffed-up and proud of his prosperity. He was content whether he had much or little.

How did he do this? Through Christ who strengthened him (4:13). If we wish to be content this is what we too must do. There are no psychological tricks or pills that can do this for us. We must draw near to Christ by faith. We must seek His help and strength. We must cry out to Him for His peace (4:6-9), for His joy (4:1-5), for His contentment (4:10-14), for His rest for our souls (Mt 11:28ff).

Peace, joy, contentment, fulfillment, and satisfaction in Christ are foundational for Christian living, with ramifications reaching into every corner of our existence. If peace, joy, and contentment are supernatural gifts of God to us in Christ (Gal 5:22), then I will abandon the attempt to find them in any finite, created thing, or person. For example, the reason why I might be content in my marriage is because I’m not looking to my wife to make me happy, to supply my joy and peace. Marriage is in fact a great source of joy for me and countless others. The Bible recognizes that it is “not good to be alone” (Gen 2:18). Marriage is deeply fulfilling. It is better to be married than not married, unless you’ve got the gift of singleness (1 Cor 7:1-7ff). Similarly it’s better to have food than to go hungry. Food is satisfying. The Apostle Paul knew what it was to be hungry and to be full (4:12). It’s better to be full, and it’s better for most to be married. But don’t’ expect marriage or food to provide enduring contentment. Jesus alone is the bread of life (Jn 6:35). He alone satisfies the hunger of the soul and quenches its thirst. He is the only source of true satisfaction, fulfillment, meaning, and purpose. I won’t find true peace or lasting joy in my marriage, or in my spouse, or in my children, or in any created thing. I will only find them in God through Jesus. So I am not placing unreasonable expectations on my marriage or my wife or my children. I am content with the finite, limited blessings of marriage, and not requiring the infinite good that can only come from God. Similarly, I’m content with my material well-being because I know that true happiness can never be found in material things, but only in Christ. I’ll never be happy if I think that fulfillment comes from having the largest house in town, driving an expensive car, owning an elaborate wardrobe, or going on exotic trips. Only those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied (Mt 5:6). Those seeking satisfaction in this world will forever be discontent. Our needy souls will forever demand more and more. They will never have enough. The acquisitive spirit will rob us of contentment. We will envy those who have what we lack. Our worldly appetites are insatiable. Jesus is able to displace our discontent and replace it with the spirit of dependent contentment because in Him our souls find rest (Mt 11:28).

Contentment, in turn, lends itself to selfless service and sharing. This is the concern of our concluding section of Philippians. Do we wish to be useful to God? Do we wish to make a difference? Do we wish to make an eternal and enduring contribution? Do we want our lives to count? Then we must “learn the secret” of being content in whatever circumstances we face, so that we will be prepared to serve and share selflessly. The key verse is 4:19.

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)

Contentment with what I have, combined with confidence in God’s supply, provides a foundation for a life of service. If I am confident that God shall supply all my “needs,” not my lusts, not my wants, not my ridiculously excessive demands, but my “needs,” then I can serve and share generously without fear of loss. Then I can trust God to supply my true needs, and do so richly. Whatever my material conditions I can know that He is going to supply my needs “according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Giving, in other words, is the test of our trust in God, our reliance upon the strength of Christ, and our contentment with our lot in this world. He writes verses 14-19 to encourage a life of selfless service and sharing.

Commended

The Apostle Paul begins by commending the Philippians for their giving.

Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. (Phil 4:14)

“You have done well to share with me,” he says, using a compounded verbal form of koinonia. You have done a good thing in sharing your wealth with me when I was in need, he tells them. The unbelieving, materialistic world will think giving away money is foolish. The money could have been invested. Or it could have been used to buy some neat new stuff. Or if you do give, at least do so in a way that puts your name in a publication, or on a plaque, or on a building. No, the Apostle says, giving to those in need is a good thing. He speaks elsewhere of being eager to help the poor (Gal 2:10). Because their giving was not compelled or coerced, and because they were not giving grudgingly, say, after Paul had brow-beaten them with guilt, their giving was a good thing. The Lord loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7)! Their giving was voluntary and, therefore, a genuine sharing in the Apostle’s ministry. He even calls it a sharing in his “affliction.” When they shared they suffered. The Philippian church was a poor church. When they gave it hurt. The Apostle Paul commended the Philippian giving to the Corinthians saying:

that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, (2 Cor 8:2-4)

This was painful giving. They gave “in a great ordeal of affliction” (whether his or theirs) and out of “deep poverty.” They gave “beyond their ability,” not grudgingly but in an “abundance of joy,” “of their own accord,” even “begging us with much entreaty” for the opportunity to give! He continues,

And you yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone; (Phil 4:15)

At the first preaching of the gospel” refers to the time of their conversion. From the very beginning of their Christian experience they gave generously. “After I departed to Macedonia” (referring primarily to his departure from Philippi),1 the Apostle Paul settled in Corinth (Acts 18:1ff). He had a difficult time there. Support was not forthcoming from the Corinthians themselves or from other churches. He later lamented,

I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you; and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia (i.e. Philippi), they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so. (2 Cor 11:8,9)

Much of the terminology that the Apostle Paul uses in this section of Philippians comes out of the world of business. “No church shared,” or “contributed,” koinōneō here denoting “financial sharing.”2 “You entered into partnership with me,” translates the ESV, “in the matter of giving and receiving,” terms which point to “the accounting language of debits and credits.”3 You alone were “my partners in payments and receipts” (NEB).

for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. (Phil 4:16)

Before he even left Macedonia, while he was still in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-9), they sent gifts for his needs. This indicates how prompt and generous they were. Indeed, this they did “more than once.”

How wonderful it must have been for the Philippians to receive this commendation of the Apostle. Giving is a good thing. Prompt giving is a good thing. Generous, even sacrificial giving is better yet. Giving, both in serving and sharing, time and money, is a test. Do I trust God to supply all my needs (4:18)? Am I content in needy circumstances when neediness is induced or compounded by generosity? We’re not implying recklessness or irresponsible giving which makes one a ward of the state or dependent on the charity of others. But what about fasting and forgoing meals for the sake of the gospel? What about forgoing items in the wardrobe? What about modest housing? What about a modest automobile? What about forgoing luxury and ostentation? What about living simply that others might simply live? What about costly, sacrificial generosity that advances the kingdom of God? How about the funding for our building projects? How about land for the Pooler and Richmond Hill church plants? How about facilities for Christian schools? How about the poor widow who is contrasted with wealthier givers who give “out of their abundance,” whereas she, giving out of her poverty, gave “all she had to live on” (Mk 12:42,43)?

Profitable

Second, the Apostle Paul reminds the Philippians of the profit of giving.

Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. (Phil 4:17)

Notice the parallel between verses 11 and 17. Once again the Apostle Paul is eager not to create the impression that he was needy in any ultimate sense. He was not discouraged or discontent in his neediness. Neither is he is soliciting future favors. “Paul feared that his strong commendation may be interpreted as a request for more,” explains Silva.4 I do not “seek the gift,” he says. I’m not dropping hints. That’s not what I’m after. “But,” or “rather,” (the thrust of alla), by way of contrast, “I seek (your) profit.” The Apostle Paul continues to employ the language of business. The word he uses (karpos, fruit), here means “profit” or “benefit.”5 He seeks the “fruit” (ESV) that “increases” or is “credited” (NIV). “Increases” is rendered “accruing” by Zerwick.6 The ESV translates “account” as “credit.” Martin renders the whole phrase, “interest which is accruing to your credit.”7

Their gift (and our giving) should be seen, says Martin, as an “investment which could repay rich dividends in the service of the kingdom.”8 That is, the fruit, the profit, which accrues through giving is primarily spiritual and eternal. One receives grace for growth in this world and treasures in heaven in the next. That is, the fruit, says O’Brien, “is God’s blessing in their lives by which they continually grow in the graces of Christ until the parousia.”9 The Apostle Paul has his heart set on “an ongoing, permanent gain for the Philippians in the spiritual realm.”10

In other words, generous giving has a sanctifying effect on us. It is a lesser means of grace, but it is a means of grace. Give, and your giving will bear spiritual and eternal fruit. Jesus said, “give, and it will be given to you,”

“. . . good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” (Lk 6:38b)

The “profit” or “fruit” gained will be the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). It will be Christ-likeness. It will be godliness. Do you wish to be characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, self-control, and the rest? Then give. Wish to have a fruitful life, and bear some fruit for God (Rom 7:4; cf. Rom 1:13)? Then give. The Apostle reminds us, we can’t take it with us:

For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. (1 Tim 6:7)

Our profits in this world remain in this world. Our accumulated funds and things remain behind when we leave. We need more permanent, lasting profit. He tells the rich (that would be most of us, considered historically and globally),

Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, (1 Tim 6:18)

Be “generous.” Be “ready to share.” Why? Because the benefits of doing so are eternal. Those who give, he continues, are,

storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. (1 Tim 6:19)

Those who give generously benefit from grace now, and they lay up “treasure” in heaven, for the future, in eternity (Mt 6:19,20). Again we may quote R. P. Martin: “At the last day such generous and unstinted service which expressed itself in practical monetary support would not go unrecognized or unrewarded (cf. 1:11).”11 Your reward in heaven will be great.

Pleases God

Third, he reminds them that giving pleases God.

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. (Phil 4:18)

O’Brien says that the Apostle’s opening words “have a touch of humor to them.”12 “I have received everything in full” also has the “commercial nuance” characteristic of this whole section.13 Zerwick identifies the opening verb as a technical term for one who has “received payment in full.”14 O’Brien renders it, “Here, then, is my receipt for everything.”15 It could be loosely rendered, “Paid in full.” “I have received full payment” (ESV, NIV). His point is to reiterate that he seeks no more gifts. They are to send no more support. He says it two more times: “I have an abundance” and “I am amply supplied.” Who could say such things, in prison, destitute? Who could say, I have more than enough? Only one who had learned the secret of contentment; who was satisfied with a little; whose needs were minimal; who was content with no more than the bare essentials, the most basic of provisions.

However, this is not his main point. His main point is to highlight the pleasure that God takes in their generous giving. He borrows heavily from the Old Testament language of sacrifice to make his point. The gift they sent by the hand of Epaphroditus was a “fragrant aroma,” an ascription used of Noah’s sacrifice following the flood (Gen 8:21), the burnt offerings commanded by Moses (Ex 29:18; Lev 1:9,13), of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (Eph 5:2). It was an “acceptable sacrifice,” sacrifice (thusia) being the usual word for any offering made to God. “Well-pleasing to God.” God is pleased. Christian giving, says O’Brien, “is likened to an acceptable sacrifice that brings pleasure to God.”16

It is typical of New Testament usage to liken Christian service and worship to the Old Testament sacrifices. Christian service is a spiritualizing or internalizing of that to which the Old Testament sacrificial rituals pointed (e.g. 1 Sam 15:22; Ps 50:8-15, 23; 51:16,17; Is 1:11-20; Hos 6:6). For example, our worship is a “sacrifice of praise:”

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. (Heb 13:15)

Christian worship is not a literal sacrifice, with temple, altar, victim, and priest, but a spiritual sacrifice. It is a “sacrifice of praise.” Christians are a spiritual priesthood who serve in a “spiritual house” and “offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet 2:5). Our priesthood is not one of vestments and rituals, blood and altars. We don’t attempt to duplicate the trappings of Old Testament worship. The once for all sacrifice of Christ ended the Old Testament blood sacrifices, the priesthood that administered them, and the relevance of Jerusalem, the temple within it, and the altar within it (see 1 Pet 3:18; Heb 9:1–10:25; 7:1–8:6; Jn 4:20-24). Our priesthood is a spiritual priesthood of proclamation and praise (1 Pet 2:9; Heb 9:14ff; cf. Rev 5:8-14).

Likewise, our giving and serving, like our worship, is sacrificial, not in the offering of bulls and goats, but in time and money.

And do not neglect doing good and sharing; for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Heb 13:16)

To “share” (koinōneō) is to offer a spiritual sacrifice. Indeed, the language of sacrifice is employed to describe the whole Christian life:

I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1,2)

The presenting of our bodies to the service of God, turning ourselves over to Him, our complete surrender to Him, is termed a “living and holy sacrifice,” and likened to spiritual worship. Martin says, “All sincere Christian service which entails sacrificial and self-denying cost not only promotes the cause of Christ and strengthens the hand of God’s servants, but is an act of worship in which God takes pleasure.”17

Such sacrifices are “well-pleasing to God.” Pleasing God is the bottom line motive for all we do as Christians. Our motive is not fear of consequences if we don’t serve. The Apostle Paul calls “pleasing God” our “ambition” (2 Cor 5:9). And why do we want to please Him? Because we are grateful for what Christ has done for us. We serve and share not to honor ourselves, not to win favors from God, but to please Him (cf. Mt 6:1ff). This is why we obey God. This is why we serve God. This is why we give to the cause of Christ. We want to please Him. And when we do, when we serve and share, it gives God pleasure.

Safe

Finally, he assures them that selfless giving is safe. We need not worry about the impact upon us of our sacrifice of time and treasure. Why? Because our God shall supply all our needs! It is safe to give.

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)

God will “supply” (KJV, NASV, ESV) or “fill” (plērōsen) all our “needs,” the Apostle using the same word here as he used for his own needs in verse 16. In other words, He’ll meet your needs just as He did mine. Moreover, He will do so “according to His riches in glory,” meaning according to “God’s own resources.”18 He will give to us out of His abundant riches (so He’ll never run out of resources) as well as “in a manner that befits wealth––on a scale worthy of His wealth.”19 The Apostle is promising that God will give out of His own limitless resources, and give “as lavishly as only God can” (JB). Hendrikson says this means that God gives “not merely out of his riches (as a millionaire might do when he donates a trifling sum to a good cause, subtracting the amount from his vast possessions) but according to his riches, so that the gift is actually in proportion to God’s infinite resources!”20

We cannot, as if it often said, out give God. It is safe to give. Urging the more miserly Corinthians to give the Apostle says,

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; . . . Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. (2 Cor 9:8, 10-11)

Notice the promise of God’s liberality extends to material things. God re-supplies seed for the sower so that those who sow (give) always have “sufficiency,” an “abundance,” are “enriched in everything.” The “seed” and “bread” would have to be material. The “harvest” may primarily be “righteousness,” as we should hope it would be, but He promises the sowers that they will be “enriched in everything.” The blessing promised here and in Philippians is comprehensive. It includes, says O’Brien, “the readers’ physical needs on the one hand . . . and their spiritual concerns on the other.”21

There is only one place in the whole Bible where we are urged to test God, and it has to do with giving. “Test me now in this,” says the Lord of host, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until there is no more need” (Mal 3:10). The Proverbs tell us, “Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (Prov 3:9,10). God promises to bless generosity with prosperity: “The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered” (Prov 11:25). “He 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, for he gives some of his food to the poor” (Prov 22:9). “He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses” (Prov 28:27). Blessings are on the head of the righteous (10:6) and it is the righteous who will be rewarded in this earth (11:31).

Not only is it good to give, but it pays to give. Righteousness pays. God rewards those who serve him, especially in this area of charity. He awards our sacrifices both spiritually and materially. The book of Job warns us that we cannot be absolute about this, but nonetheless it is true as a generalization. It seems almost paradoxical – the way to prosper is to give. To gain my life I must lose it. Likewise, almost paradoxically, the way to prosper is not to concentrate my wealth on myself, but to obey Christ in the areas of serving and sharing, and let Him add all these others things unto us (Mt 6:33). Give, then! Give your time and money. Do not fear harming yourself or losing out. Give generously. Give sacrificially. Give selflessly. We cannot out give God. He shall supply all our needs. He shall give in proportion to His vast resources, His “riches in glory,” all “in Christ Jesus.” In Christ we shall always “have an abundance.” In Christ we shall always be “amply supplied” (4:18). In Christ God freely gives us “all things” (Rom 8:32). In Christ we have been blessed “with every spiritual blessing” (Eph 1:3). In Christ we have been given “everything pertaining to life and godliness” (2 Pet 1:3). In Christ we have been “made complete” (Col 2:10). We will not lack. We will not suffer want (Ps 23:1; 34:10). “No good thing” will be withheld (Ps 84:11). All the riches of the universe are at our disposal in Christ Jesus. Nothing, then, should inhibit the generous giving of the people of God. We can follow Jesus into the mission field or the ministry. We serve Jesus in the schoolhouse or in the inner city. We can contribute substantial sums of money knowing that Christ shall supply all our needs according to His riches in glory.