Plans of Encouragement

Introduction

Philippians 2:19–30 ESV

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. 25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

We have discussed this idea of unity in the church and considering others more important ourselves. The truth that unity is built when we think to the interest of others more important than ourselves.

Paul is going to in a sense knock two birds out with one stone. He is going to inform them that Timothy and Epaphroditus are coming to them, and shows how they are the example of selflessness. These men considered others more important than others. But we are going to see some other truths throughout this passage that the text points out.

The Lord has a plan

Philippians 2:19 ESV

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.

Paul says, “I hope in the Lord Jesus.” Paul grounds his plans in the fact that it is the Lord’s will for this to happen. If the Lord will, If the Lord permits, then it will happen.

Paul at the same time is making clear that he wants Timothy to go to this church. He longs for this to happen, but grounded in the fact that this will not happen unless the Lord allows.

The basis of Paul’s hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, based on faith that influences every activity of Paul. Paul does not do anything without thinking about the Lord Jesus and what pleases him most. What makes him most glorified. What would his will be for this moment?

How is this comforting for God’s will in your life?

Paul’s wish, Paul’s expectation is that Timothy would be sent to them. And he says that they would do that so he may be cheered by news of you. It would give Paul confidence. Encouragement, strength, hope. Paul would send Timothy with this purpose in mind to hear about the people at this church and be encouraged by them

How many of you have found out a friend or family member is not doing very well and you traveled a distance to encourage them?

Usually when Paul would send someone to a church, it was for their good, their completion, for their help. This was not the case. Paul did this for the need of himself. Paul goes onto talk about how important Timothy is to him, but also why he would send Timothy.

Philippians 2:20 ESV

20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.

Paul has addressed the selfishness of the church.

Philippians 2:3 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Timothy will be someone who is genuinely concerned for them. He will be an example of what it looks like to care for someone else more important than himself. The Romans were a self-centered people. They sought their own interests. Not Timothy. Paul in this statement is saying that there is not an equal soul to Timothy.

Philippians—The Fellowship of the Gospel Self-Centered Romans

Ironically, the very self-centeredness that Paul had just warned the Philippians about in 2:4 (“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interests of others”) was part of everyday life in Rome—“They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (v. 21). Paul has already told us that even while he was under arrest in Rome, “Some p 108 indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry” (1:15; cf. v. 17). Thus many of the capable preachers in Rome were infused with a mean-spirited, selfish ambition. Certainly there were good Christians in Rome because once the others heard of Paul’s plight, “most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear” (1:14).

Paul is calling out the strong able body men in Rome who were able to serve the Lord but were too caught up in themselves. They were selfish, but Timothy is the direct opposite of them . He was selfless. There was no one like him. Timothy was the only one with Paul when he was in prison in Rome.

Philippians 2:21–22 ESV

21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.

Philippians—The Fellowship of the Gospel Selfless Timothy

We do live in an age of unprecedented self, of weightless souls consumed with their own gravity. And today many Christians actually believe that it is “Christian” to pursue self-fulfillment as an ultimate goal in life.

Philippians—The Fellowship of the Gospel Selfless Timothy

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps—reading the Bible. When we do that, we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised [in] our path to show us that, not our way, but God’s way must be done. It is a strange fact that Christians frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God’s “Crooked yet straight path.” They do not want a life that is crossed and balked. But it is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God.

Remember earlier in chapter one

Philippians 1:15–18 ESV

15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

Some preach from selfishness. Some only care about themselves. Not Timothy.

Not only his caring heart

Excellence in Character

Philippians 2:22 ESV

22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.

Timothy has proven to be dependable or reliable.

How do you prove to be reliable?

This was no surprise to the church. “But you know Timothy’s proven worth. They knew that if Timothy was going to come to them he would be valuable and a help to them. You can read in Acts the service Timothy was to Paul, but he compares it “How as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.”

Timothy was devoted wholeheartedly to the Lord. Paul was Timothy’s Spiritual father. Timothy, a man who was growing in Christ under the ministry of Paul. This is not a relationship where Timothy serves Paul, but Timothy serves with Paul for the advance of the gospel.