Citizens of God's Kingdom: Paul's Thanksgiving

Philippians is full of profound doctrine. It has serious moral advice and warnings, descriptions of virtue and salvation. But fundamentally, it is a letter--a letter of one man to his friends, and nowhere is this clearer than in the final section. (4:10-20) Though there are several verses here which have become part of our theological consciousness, at its base this is a thank-you card. Remember that the occasion for writing this letter was that Paul was sending Epaphroditus back to Philippi. And so it was only proper that with this letter he is sending his thanks for the gift which the Philippians sent with Epaphroditus.

To understand this passage, we should step back and look at a history of Paul and the Philippians. We know that Paul preached at Philippi for an unknown amount of time before he was arrested, immediately after which he left the city for Thessalonica. While Paul was at Thessalonica, he had to work to support himself during his time in preaching, making it a very difficult situation--he was not going to demand that the Thessalonicans support him, though as an apostle he would have had that right. (1 Thessalonians 2:9) And at that time, as verse 16 says, the Philippians on at least two separate occasions sent him some kind of gift to help with his support. The people at Philippi were new Christians then--that seems to be what he means in verse 15 when he speaks of “the beginning of the gospel”--the beginning of their knowledge of and faith in the gospel--and yet they took the effort to send him a gift to help him out, something the Thessalonicans to whom he was preaching do not seem to have thought of doing.

Paul left Thessalonica for Berea and then from Berea left Macedonia for Athens where he stayed for a period of time before beginning his somewhat lengthy ministry at Corinth. Later, he reminds the Corinthians that during that time: “I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied.” (2 Corinthians 11:9) This corresponds to verse 15 of our passage, where Paul says that when he departed from Macedonia the Philippians (and seemingly only the Philippians) continued to send him help when he needed it.

There was a close bond between Paul and the Philippians and that included their continued generosity. Verse 15 says that they “communicated with me as concerning give and receiving.” That word 'communicated' comes from the same root as the word Fellowship. (see Philippians 4:15, ASV) The fellowship which existed between Paul and the Philippians was not just an abstract matter but one which had very practical consequences. It was one which led them to give, and probably give sacrificially, to help Paul in his ministry.

Though the Philippians had a history of helping Paul, some time had passed since they had last sent him aid of any kind, according to Verse 10. Paul knows that it wasn't because they didn't want to help him. He says they were “careful” about it. The word in Greek means to think about something or to have the disposition to do something. Basically, Paul is saying they were thinking about helping him and wanting to do something to help him, but they simply didn't have an opportunity. But after a long period of inaction, their care for him “flourished again”--like a spring which bursts out after going dry or a plant blossoming again. And so they sent a gift with Epaphroditus. We don't know exactly what they sent with him, but in verse 18, speaking of the gift, Paul says: “I have all, and abound: I am full.” Apparently, Paul felt that his needs were sufficiently met, at least for the time being.

Paul was genuinely grateful for their help. But to him, there was an added dimension. It wasn't simply that his friends had sent him money/possessions when he needed it. The Philippians loved Paul but that wasn't the only reason they did it. Their gift was not simply a gift to Paul, but to God, for Paul was God's minister in prison for the fellowship of the Gospel. And so their gift was also a gift to God.

No doubt we have all heard people make the accusations that preachers are only after money. Usually, it's a far-fetched claim, but there have been cases when it was true, and it was the same way in Paul's day--there were those who used the privileges of the gospel as an excuse to sponge off the church. That is why Paul always was careful to disassociate himself with any such thing, why he so often worked to support himself rather than ask for support from the church, and why he makes a point of saying in verse 17 that he didn't desire a gift. In other words, he does make a point of praising the Philippians for their gift, but he isn't trying to get another gift out of them--which is why he goes on in verse 18 to emphasize that he has everything he needs. He wasn't after a gift, but he was after something. And it was that fruit would abound to their account. (v. 17) 'Fruit' here means results or reward. What Paul is saying is that he is happy in their gift and, in general, would encourage a generous spirit, not for his own sake as the recipient, but because it would lead to a reward in heaven.

For their gift was not just to him, but to God. Speaking of the gift in verse 18 he says it was “An odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.” If we go to the Old Testament, we will find this sort of language. Sacrifices are described as a sweet savor before the Lord. Obviously, this language is metaphorical, but the idea is that the sacrifices were pleasing to God and accepted by Him. And what Paul is saying is that the gift they gave was like a sacrifice which would be accepted by God. What we give to God's work, we give to God and it is, therefore, an act of worship. That is why we pray before we take an offering in church and why the offering is part of the formal service at all--because we are not merely collecting money but offering a sacrifice to God.

And because it was a gift to God, Paul felt sure that God would take care of them. C. S. Lewis commented somewhere that usually what holds people back from giving is not greed but fear--fear of poverty, fear of need. The implication here is that the Philippians had given sacrificially. That is why Paul makes a point of assuring them in verse 19: “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” They didn't to be afraid that they would be in need because of their generosity to Paul, because God would be taking care of them and would be able to meet all their needs--not according to our ideas or thoughts about how He could work or what He could do, but according to the riches of His glory (or His glorious riches) by Christ Jesus. In and through Jesus we have access to a vast storehouse of riches. And even though most of these are spiritual riches and even though we understand that following God does not guarantee financial blessings, still we know that God has the resources to meet all our needs and if God doesn't meet our needs it is either because (1) we have failed to ask him by prayer and supplication or (2) it wasn't really a need in the first place. But in any case, we know that God is able to supply all our needs and therefore, as in verse 20, we can offer our praise and glory to God forever and ever, for all He has done and has promised to do for us.

That is the Philippians' side of this passage--the part that has to do with Paul's thanksgiving to them. But there is another side to the passage that has more to do with Paul's experience. Paul was glad that the Philippians had helped him, but he went out of his way to make it clear that he was not complaining about his state.

Verse 11: “Not that I speak in respect of want.” The TCNT translates that: “Do not think that I am saying this under the pressure of want.” Paul was grateful for their gift, but not because he couldn't have gotten along without it. This is the language of gratitude--not of desperation. If they hadn't been able to send him a gift, he wouldn't have complained. “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.”

The first point to notice is that Paul says this is something he learned. A lot of people seem to think that when you get saved you have everything you need. Some people seem to think that when you get saved and sanctified you have everything you need. But the message of Philippians is that no matter what we have and how far we have come, we must keep pushing forward and working out to completion our own salvation. Paul didn't automatically get contentment because he was a Christian. It was something he learned through the course of his ministry. Remember that Paul had been ministering to the church for some time at this point, and during the course of his ministry, he had experienced a more than normal share of variegated circumstances. And in the midst of all that, he had learned to be content.

In verse 12 he says he was “instructed” about how to live in any circumstance, both good and bad. At the time of Paul, a very important part of Greek society was the “Mystery Religions.” Mystery Religions were secret societies who practiced some special religion but the important point about them was that not just anyone could know about their beliefs and practices. One had to become a member to learn all their secrets. One had to be initiated. And the word Paul uses for “instructed” can also be translated “initiated.” He pictures the art of contentment as a secret which God had shared him. He had been initiated into the secret society of the content--and now he is ready to initiate the Philippians by sharing “the secret of contentment.” (Philippians 4:12, NET Bible)

To understand this passage we have to understand the word Paul uses in verse 11: “Content.” The Greek word here is rather interesting and can have several meanings which are actually completely different and reflect different ideas about what contentment is. The word is “autarkes” and is comprised of two words: literally it is “self-sufficient.” (Robertson's Word Pictures, Strong) Thayer defines the literal meaning of this word as: “Sufficient for one's self, strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support; independent of external circumstances.” The noun form of the word he defines as: “a perfect condition of life, in which no aid or support is needed.” We can picture this like a city which has everything it needs. The food to feed itself, the water to water itself, all the resources it needs can be found within its four walls. Autarkes is the word for a rich man who has everything he needs and so can live happily no matter the circumstances. Even if circumstances are bad, he has the wealth to support himself with trouble. He is fully self-sufficient. That is what many people in the world believe the secret of contentment is--to have everything you need.

I don't think I need to tell you that this isn't what Paul means here. He makes this clear in verse 12, in which he says that had learned to live in humble circumstances or in excess, to have too much food or too little, to have an overabundance or to come up short. Paul wasn't content because he had a secret saving account in a Caesarian Bank which he could draw on when things went bad.

And there are two problems with such a view of contentment, anyway. First, no one is truly self-sufficient in an absolute sense. The richest man is one day away from poverty. With enough money, you can be mostly self-sufficient and can mostly transcend the change of circumstances--but not completely. Second, even those with great possessions are often unhappy and are always greedy for more. No matter how much we have, we may always be wanting more. That was why you had a class of Greek philosophers known as the Stoics. The Stoics took this word Autarkes and used it in a different sense. They saw the self-sufficient man, not as the man who had everything he needed, but as the man who didn't need anything. They thought the secret of content was not to increase your possession but to decrease your needs and wants. They took this word Autarkes and used it for the man who was completely at peace and satisfied no matter what happened. Their self-sufficient city was not the one which had everything it needed but the one which had no needs; not the city with plenty of water but the city where no one was thirsty. The goal of the Stoics was to have no desires, no hopes, no wants. They said a truly contented man could experience any suffering or loss to himself or to those around him without sorrow.

This is obviously much closer to what Paul is saying, but it still isn't quite right. To the Stoics, a contented man would know no desire, no grief, no gratitude, and no love--no feelings for others, because he was self-sufficient. But Philippians is filled to the brim with Paul's feelings for the Philippians--his love, his concern, his fear, his hope for them, as well as recording his sorrow over Epaphroditus' sickness and his joy at his recovery. Paul was no stoic.

So these are the two ideas about contentment. On one hand, there are those who believe the secret of contentment is to have more, on the other those who think it is to want less.  For some, the increase of possession, to others the decrease of desire. And Paul didn't fit into either class. Like the Stoics, his contentment was truly independent of circumstance and did not depend on certain possessions. But unlike them, it did not lie in a lack of feeling or human desires. Rather, the secret of his contentment lay in a different direction altogether.

Paul's secret of contentment is verse 13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The city of Jerusalem was not naturally a self-sufficient city. It did not have a good supply of water within the city. And so, under the threat of the Assyrians, King Hezekiah had his men dig a tunnel under the city to reach a spring outside the city so that in the midst of a siege they would have a secret source of water. That is what Paul is saying. He was content, he was sufficient in every circumstance because he had a secret source of strength in Christ Jesus. Paul was only human and he didn't like privation and need any more than anybody else, but he was able to live in such circumstances without a murmur because he had a source of strength. Whatever he had, whether great or little, was enough, because he had access to the strength of Christ. To him, the secret of contentment was not having more or wanting less but being enabled through the power of God to meet every situation and live in every condition. He might be blessed with great riches; he might be humbled to great poverty--but in either case, he was not depended on those things but on Christ.

Matthew Henry: "Through Christ, who is strengthening me, and does continually strengthen me; it is by his constant and renewed strength I am enabled to act in every thing; I wholly depend upon him for all my spiritual power." This is the true secret of contentment for the Christian.

Following this passage, Paul closes his letter (as he usually does) with some greetings and a benediction: “Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Philippians 4:21-23)