Philippians 2:19-30 Scripture
“19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. 22 But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. 23 Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. 24 But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly. (Philippians 2:19-24)
Philippians 2:19 Meaning
“But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.” (Philippians 2:19)
Timothy was being disciplined by the apostle Paul beginning in Acts 16:1-3. From there we see throughout the rest of the Book of Acts that Timothy followed Paul and ministered with him.
Often when Paul was being heavily persecuted and had to leave a certain city or he was currently in prison, Timothy would assist him with communication with the churches.
In this particular instance, the apostle Paul is in prison and he wants to send Timothy to the Philippians so that he can essentially receive an update about the Philippians faith walk. Paul is obviously confident in the stability of the Philippians because he assumes that he will be encouraged.
Philippians 2:20-21 Meaning
“For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:20-21)
The apostle Paul had many people run alongside him. He has had many people with him as he minister the Gospel and made disciples all across the world. Paul rarely went anywhere alone.
So it’s striking to read that, according to Paul, no one who was running with him at this particular moment was sincere enough for him to send to the Philippians. Timothy was the only one who was “like-minded, who will sincerely care” for their state.
We need to be sure to live our lives like Paul and Timothy. We need to only focus and care for one thing; Jesus Christ and His mission.
Philippians 2:22 Meaning
“But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.”(Philippians 2:22)
The Philippians knew Timothy. They knew that Timothy was a man of unshakeable character and that he was a spiritual son to the apostle Paul and that he served faithfully in the work of the Gospel.
One thing that sticks out to me about this verse is the Philippians knew Timothy’s “proven character”. No one knows our unproven character. No one knows the character that we claim to have.
Our character needs to be proven through consistency and resiliency through trials.
In fact, a few years after Paul sent this letter to the Philippians, he sent another letter to Timothy telling him to study the scriptures so that he would be able to “show himself approved.”
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Notice Paul didn’t say, “Study so that you can preach yourself approved” or “teach yourself approved.” No, but he said, “Study to show yourself approved.”
This is important because it reveals that we study the scriptures so that we can be transformed by God from the renewal of our minds, not so that we can be puffed by knowledge or so that we can lead a bible study.
Philippians 2:23 Meaning
“Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me.” (Philippians 2:23)
Paul was eager to send Timothy to the Philippians for reasons mentioned in the previous verses, but he didn’t want to send him until he knew the facts about his sentencing.
Paul was certain that he would be released (Philippians 1:19 & 25), and he eventually was, but it wasn’t a guaranteed fact and he probably wanted to send Timothy to them with the most up-to-date news possible.
Philippians 2:24 Meaning
“But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.” (Philippians 2:24)
Again, we see that the apostle Paul was very confident in his release and that he would be able to come and see the Philippians very soon.
The natural reason for Paul’s confidence is unknown, but the spiritual reason for this strong confidence is because he “trusts in the Lord.” We see this in another place in Philippians chapter 1 verses 19 and 25.
“For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (v. 19).
“And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith” (v. 25).
We see in these verses that Paul’s confidence was placed in three facts; (1) the Philippians were praying for his release, (2) in the power of the Spirit, and (3) because it was more needful to the churches for Paul to stay alive.
We see through church history that Paul was in fact released and that he lived and ministered the Gospel for about 4 more years until his death in Rome in A.D. 64. (See this timeline of Paul’s ministry for reference).
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it assisted you in your walk with God!
If you want to read more commentary on Philippians you can check out my complete verse-by-verse commentary on Philippians chapter 1.
Or you can read the following articles on Philippians chapter 2:
Philippians 2:1-4 Meaning (Verse-by-Verse Study & Commentary)
Philippians 2:5-11 Meaning (Verse-by-Verse Study & Commentary)
Philippians 2:12-18 Meaning (Verse-by-Verse Study & Commentary)
Philippians 2:25-30 Meaning (Verse-by-Verse Study & Commentary)
God bless you all and enjoy!
