Philippians 4:11-18
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.
15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.
16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity.
17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
I. He takes care to obviate the bad use some might make of his taking so much notice of what was sent him. It did not proceed either from discontent and distrust (Phil. 4:11) or from covetousness and love of the world, Phil. 4:12.
1. It did not come from discontent, or distrust of Providence: Not that I speak in respect of want (Phil. 4:11); not in respect of any want he felt, nor of any want he feared. As to the former, he was content with the little he had, and that satisfied him; as to the latter, he depended upon the providence of God to provide for him from the day to day, and that satisfied him: so that he did not speak in respect of want any way. For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. We have here an account of Paul’s learning, not that which he got at the feet of Gamaliel, but that which he got at the feet of Christ. He had learnt to be content; and that was the lesson he had as much need to learn as most men, considering the hardships and sufferings with which he was exercised. He was in bonds, and imprisonments, and necessities, often; but in all he had learnt to be content, that is, to bring his mind to his condition, and make the best of it.—I know both how to be abased and how to abound, Phil. 4:12. This is a special act of grace, to accommodate ourselves to every condition of life, and carry an equal temper of mind through all the varieties of our state.
(1.) To accommodate ourselves to an afflicted condition—to know how to be abased, how to be hungry, how to suffer want, so as not to be overcome by the temptations of it, either to lose our comfort in God or distrust his providence, or to take any direct course for our own supply.
(2.) To a prosperous condition—to know how to abound, how to be full, so as not to be proud, or secure, or luxurious. And this is as hard a lesson as the other; for the temptations of fullness and prosperity are not less than those of affliction and want. But how must we learn it? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, Phil. 4:13. We have need of strength from Christ, to enable us to perform not only those duties which are purely Christian, but even those which are the fruit of moral virtue. We need his strength to teach us to be content in every condition. The apostle has seemed to boast of himself, and of his own strength: I know how to be abased (Phil. 4:12); but here he transfers all the praise to Christ. “What do I talk of knowing how to be abased, and how to abound? It is only through Christ who strengthens me that I can do it, not in my own strength.” So we are required to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might (Eph. 5:10), and to be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 2:1); and we are strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man, Eph. 3:16. The word in the original is a participle of the present tense, ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με Χριστῷ, and denotes a present and continued act; as if he had said, “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.”
2. It did not come from covetousness, or an affection to worldly wealth: “Not because I desired a gift (Phil. 4:17); that is, I welcome your kindness, not because it adds to my enjoyments, but because it adds to your account.” He desired not so much for his own sake, but theirs: “I desire fruit that may abound to your account, that is, that you may be enabled to make such a good use of your worldly possessions that you may give an account of them with joy. It is not with any design to draw more from you, but to encourage you to such an exercise of beneficence as will meet with a glorious reward hereafter. “For my part,” says he, “I have all, and abound, Phil. 4:18. What can a man desire more than enough? I do not desire a gift for the gift’s sake, for I have all, and abound.” They sent him a small token, and he desired no more; he was not solicitous for a present superfluity, or a future supply: I am full, having received form Epaphroditus the things which were sent by you. Note, A good man will soon have enough of this world; not only of living in it, but of receiving from it. A covetous worldliness, if he has ever so much, would still have more; but a heavenly Christian, though he has little, has enough.
—William Harris (c. 1675 - 1740), Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible
