ken for an indirect petition, "thanks for
favours to come." So with sensitive delicacy he pursues:

Ver. 17. +Not that I am in quest of+ (_epizeto_: almost, "I am hunting
for") +the gift+, the mere sum of money, in and for itself; +but I am
in quest of the interest that is accumulating to your account+;[8] I am
bent upon just such a developement of your generosity as will win from
the heavenly Master more and yet more of that supreme reward, His own
"Well done, good and

Ver. 18. faithful." +But+ (he is still anxious, lest this too should
be mistaken for a personal bid for more) +I have received in full+
(_apecho_); you have amply discharged love's obligations, in the gift
now sent; +and I run over+; the largeness of your bounty makes an
overflow. +I have been filled full, in accepting from Epaphroditus
what+ came +from you; an odour of fragrancy, a sacrifice acceptable,
pleasing to God+, to whom you have really presented what you have sent
to the man who serves Him--this evidence of your sacrifice to Him of
yourselves and your possessions, a burnt offering (Lev. i. 9) of
surrender, a peace offering (Lev. ii. 2, iii. 5) of thanksgiving.[9] I
cannot

Ver. 19. requite you; +but my God shall fill up every need of yours+
(_pasan chreian_, not _p._ten chr._), making up to you in His own
loving providence the gap in your means left by this your bounty, and
enriching you the while in soul, +according to+, on the scale of, +His
wealth, in glory, in Christ Jesus+. Yes, He will draw on no less a
treasury than that of "His glory," His own Nature of almighty Love, as
it is manifested to and for you "in Christ Jesus," in whom "all the

Ver. 20. Fulness dwells."[10] +But now to our God and Father+, to Him
of whom I and you are alike the dear children, +be the glory+, the
praise for this and for all like acts of His children's love, +for ever
and ever+; "to the ages of the ages," the endless cycles of eternal
life, in which shall it be fully seen how He was the Secret of all the
holiness of all His saints. _Amen_.

So the utterance of thanks for a loving and liberal collection closes.
Here is another case of the phenomenon we have seen already--the
beautiful skill with which a local and personal incident is used as the
occasion for a whole revelation of grace and truth. We can easily
imagine a gift like that which came from Philippi acknowledged with a
few cordial words which would adequately express gratitude and