How to Abound
Now that would be the life. What would make you say that?
Most answers are wrapped up in what we have or what we don’t have to do. But what if we have it all wrong? What if life isn’t about what you have but rather is about what you let go of?
I want to bet that most people in here, if we had what would actually make us say, “Now that would be the life,” we wouldn’t know what to do with it. The Apostle Paul wasn’t that way. I want us to think about a well-known verse in a different way this morning.
Philippians 4:11-12
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
What does it mean to be content? To be ok with whatever you have. Not just being ok with having little. It’s also being ok with having plenty.
Most people have learned how to be content with little. But here’s what most people have not learned how to be content with: a lot.
I want you to hear a devotional Spurgeon wrote in his Morning and Evening Devotional on this topic, from the morning of February 10, titled “Perils in Prosperity:”
“I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound.” —Philippians 4:12
There are many who know “how to be abased,” but they have never learned “how to abound.” When they reach the pinnacle of success they become dizzy and are ready to fall off. Christians disgrace their Lord far more in prosperity than in adversity. It is dangerous to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is not as severe a trial as the gold pot of prosperity.
Malnutrition of the soul and neglect of spiritual things are frequently a result of the mercies and bounties of God. Yet the apostle tells us he also knew how to abound. When he had much, he knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to carry the burden of abundant prosperity. It takes more than human skill to carry a brimming cup of mortal joy with a steady hand.
Paul had learned that skill, for he wrote, “In all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4:12). It is a divine lesson to learn how to be full.
Many ask for provisions to satisfy their selfishness, but fullness of food and good things often causes spiritual loss. When we have many of God’s providential mercies, it often seems we have little of God’s grace and even less gratitude for blessings received. When we are full and forget God we become satisfied with earth and forget heaven.
Be assured, it is harder to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry, so desperate is the tendency of pride and forgetfulness of God in human nature. Ask God to teach you “how to be full”:
Let not the gifts Thy love bestows, Estrange our hearts from Thee.
Paul didn’t fall into this trap. Look at his statements in Philippians 4:12, taking out the negatives. “I know how to abound. I have learned the secret of facing plenty. I have learned the secret of facing abundance.”
Well if Paul is telling us that he has learned the secret of abounding, I think it’s worth taking a look at. In order to see how to abound, how to have plenty, we must first look at how not to abound. That is the structure of this morning’s message.
How not to abound. How not to be rich. How to abound. How to be rich. We will look to what Jesus says about how not to abound, and then we will look at what Paul has to say about how to abound.
We need to see how NOT to abound. How not to be rich.
Luke 12:13-21
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Don’t build bigger barns. Well, then what do I do with all of my stuff? Well, if I’m not to build bigger barns, then I’ll make my current barn better looking. No.
You know, this is how we think. We’re selfish. We’ve been told to be selfish our whole lives. The whole American dream and American work ethic speaks to that. Working harder to make more money for me and us instead of to help someone else.
I want my life to be shaped by the words of God, not by the American culture. I want my heart to be captivated by the grace of God, not the American economy. I belong to a far country. Remember, we are sojourners and strangers just passing through.
We live like we have the show Hoarders living inside our heart. We try to fill it with more and more stuff. Jesus says don’t build bigger barns because there is a guy down the street who doesn’t have a barn. Or doesn’t have stuff to put in a barn. He can’t feed himself and his family.
Building bigger barns in today’s context, you know what it is? SAVING. Inflating and padding our bank accounts. SPENDING. Inflating our lifestyle. Streaming services. Starbucks. Nicer things. Clothes, cars, etc. Appearance. The best and latest in technology. You name it. So here’s the point:
Don’t save and spend selfishly.
We save and spend selfishly. You say, well I don’t think this way, and I don’t behave this way. Well, that can’t be true for all of us.
Here is some information about our denomination, The Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest Protestant denomination in the world, with over 12 million members.[1] First off, one thing that makes the Southern Baptist Convention so amazing is our cooperation in reaching the nations. We give to what’s called the Cooperative Program. The churches cooperate together to send missionaries and train pastors, because we can do more together than separate. That’s how we’re able to have so many missionaries on the mission field, and they don’t have to raise their support. That’s how pastors are able to go to seminary at a discounted rate, and so much more. 73.2% goes to missions, 22.16% goes to theological education, 2.99% goes to Executive Committee and operations, and 1.65% goes to the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission.[2]
So, with that being said, giving to this is very important for the work of the gospel done around the world. But here’s the thing: giving to the cooperative program has decreased seven of the last ten years. The total given in the year just ended is nearly $10 million less than that high point, a 5% drop in three years.[3] Do you think that’s a good thing or a bad thing? Praise the Lord, we have had an increase in attendance and baptism in the past five years![4] Though we have also seen a decline in membership and a decline in giving at the same time for missions.
What kind of good do you think 12 million Southern Baptist church members could do? The median personal income in the US is about $65k.[5] The annual tithes given to their churches would be $78 billion. I think churches should give 10% to the cooperative program. They currently give about 4.58%.[6] Let’s just take that low number. If all of the members were tithing, as we talked about last week, and the churches were giving at a low rate, the cooperative program would be receiving about $3.6 billion. Instead, last year its budget was $190 million, which is 95% smaller.
What could we do with that money? Well…
645 million people faced chronic hunger in the last year. That’s 7.8% of the global population.[7] There is great physical need in the world.
44% of the world’s total population are unreached peoples.[8] That equals to 3.62 billion people. There is great spiritual need in the world.
4,000 churches close their doors every single year.[9] More U.S. Protestant churches closed than opened in 2024. 3,800 started, while 4,000 closed.
We could list more and more stats similar in any number of things. But here’s the point: The world is not abounding because we don’t know how to abound. We build bigger and nicer barns, seeking our own comfort and pleasure, while the world is crumbling around us.
I pray you see the desperate need we have. Desperation. That’s the best word I can think of to describe our situation. We are in desperate need to know how to abound, so since the Apostle Paul knows how to abound, let’s see how.
We need to see how TO abound. How to be rich.
1 Timothy 6:6-19
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Store up treasure for yourself as a good foundation for the future. Now, this sounds good. This is what we want. Paul isn’t saying to build bigger barns. He’s not saying to store up money to be sure your kids have plenty. Yes, we are to be sure our families are provided for, but I think we use that as an excuse to build bigger barns instead of building the kingdom.
This is how Paul says we are to store up treasures for ourselves as a good foundation for the future. By being generous and sharing. By being rich in good works. By doing good.
How do we do this?
Set your hope not on riches but on the Giver of riches. (vs. 17)
When we realize how much we’ve been given, our hands suddenly become a lot looser.
Abundant grace enables us to bear the burden of abundant prosperity. We see it in these verses. Paul doesn’t stop talking about money in verses 11-16. He’s just putting it in the proper perspective. God has been generous to us. We are to be generous with His generosity.
Paul figured out how to have abundance. How to be rich. He says that to be truly rich is to be rich in good works, to be generous, to share, to do good. He then says that this is taking hold of that which is truly life.
This is what God wants of each of us. He wants us to take hold of that which is truly life. He wants us to use the blessings He’s given us to bless the world that He so loves. He wants to break the chains of selfishness in our hearts and take hold of that which is truly life.
2 Corinthians 9:10–11
10 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. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Our abundance should lead to God’s glory.
If what you have doesn’t lead to God’s glory, you’re not using what He has given you as He intended. All things exit for the glory of God. That includes you and all things you have. Notice the pattern in this passage. God provides the seed. We sow it to reap a harvest. From that harvest we are rich so that we can be generous in every way so that people will thank God. Your abundance should cause other people to thank God. That is how to abound.
And the greatest abundance we have is the gift of salvation given to us in Jesus. That’s greater than any treasure. We must not keep our things to our self, and we must not keep the gospel to ourself. And that is all to lead to thanksgiving to God.
[1] https://www.sbc.net/about/what-we-do/fast-facts
[2] https://www.sbc.net/missions/the-cooperative-program
[3] https://baptistnews.com/article/sbc-cooperative-program-giving-declines-yet-again
[4] https://churchanswers.com/blog/new-numbers-on-the-southern-baptist-convention-remarkable-recovery-or-dead-cat-bounce
[5] https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkyeng.pdf
[6] https://sbcannualmeeting.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2025-Book-of-Reports-FINAL.pdf
[7] https://www.fao.org/hunger/en
[9] https://news.lifeway.com/2026/01/13/lifeway-research-finds-church-closures-eclipse-openings-in-the-u-s
