God’s Word for You

Philippians 2:19-20 No one else like him

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, March 21, 2026

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will be genuinely concerned about your welfare.

Paul moves on now from rejoicing over Christian living and Christian service to the two men he has with him that he is about to send back to Philippi, Timothy and Epaphroditus. However, he has not necessarily moved on from the subject of his possible death. It isn’t out of the question, and so he plans to send one of his finest colleagues to take a good look at the church in Philippi, to consider their needs. If Paul is spared, Timothy will come back to him with his report. If Paul is put to death, Timothy will proceed as he sees fit; he has Paul’s full confidence.

Let’s look at Paul’s assessment of Timothy (which we’ll do by dividing five verses into two sections). I can’t help but imagine what kind of encouragement this was for Timothy. He was certainly a well-trained and mature pastor by this time, but it can be so very good to have someone like Paul say it out loud. This has two effects: First, it commends the minister to the church to give them confidence in his abilities, and second, it commends the minister before God, showing that this man has the approval of the Holy Spirit and of his fellow ministers. We do the same thing when we install or ordain a pastor in a new church, both for his sake and for theirs.

The main reason for sending Timothy was to evaluate how things were going there in Philippi. When a new officer reviews his ship, he is wise to stand back and just watch the sailors in action. Are the ones off-duty skylarking on the decks, or are they sulking in their racks? Are the ones on-duty laughing and joking from time to time, or are they grumbling and complaining about this or that officer, or their duties, or something else? When a pastor comes to a new congregation, he wants to see how many people are coming to Bible Study, and what sort of questions do they ask? Do the people greet each other before or after worship, or do they seem like total strangers? Does the church plan events that are meant for (a) instruction, (b) service, but also (c) fellowship and building a family of believers? If we think that the ancient church did not do such things, we need to remember Dorcas, “always doing good deeds and acts of charity” (Acts 9:36), and making robes and clothing for people (Acts 9:38). And there were other people seeing to the needs of the saints, (Matthew 27:55; Acts 24:23). And it was hoped that God’s people would meet to encourage one another (Hebrews 10:25). Our youth programs have always focused on all of these things; do we have something in place for our adults as well?

Another reason Paul was sending Timothy and not another man was that Timothy had been among them already; he would be “genuinely concerned about their welfare.” His concern about their welfare; not so much his own. One commentator, Professor Ralph Martin, writing in the Tyndale New Testament Commentary on Philippians, has an exceptionally fine point here. He writes:

“In Christian experience it is remarkable how often these apparent contradictions go together, but in reverse. We find ourselves guilty of anxiety over our own interests to the exclusion of others’ wellbeing. One of the surest antidotes to personal ‘care’ is to widen our horizons and so enlarge our heart of sympathy that we share the burdens of other people.”

Finally, Paul wants Timothy to bring news back to him, “That I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.” His word, “I may be cheered,” only occurs here in the Bible; it is not in the Apocrypha. There is one case in the early Fathers, in the Shepherd of Hermas: “Strengthen your family!” (Hv 1,3,2). The place where a Greek student will encounter this word with more regularity is in ancient epitaphs, where it seems to mean “Be of good cheer!” or “Be strong!” or “May it be well with your soul.” Here Paul means that he wants to be cheered by good news from Philippi. He felt like a father to the Philippians, as he did to all of his congregations. “We dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children” (1 Thessalonians 2:11); “I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains” (Philemon 1:10); “In Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15).

Such a father does not impose himself. Such a father places himself under the authority of Christ and the divine call of the Holy Spirit. If he finds himself in a place where there are no preachers or teachers, then, as Luther correctly states, “he needs no other call than to be a Christian, called and anointed by God from within. It is his duty to preach and to teach the gospel to erring heathen or non-Christians. This is what Stephen did (Acts 6-7).” But if a Christian finds himself in a place where there are Christians who have the same right and authority that he has, “he should not draw attention to himself. Instead, he should let himself be called and chosen to preach and teach in the place of and by the command of the others.” This is relevant because Paul was sending Timothy to perform the duties of a pastor, and in this sense Paul was acting as a bishop or overseer, sending out another man to preach where he was unable to go. He sent Timothy because, as Paul said, “I have no one else like him.”

Heavenly Father, make your ministers useful where they serve. Help us and our colleagues to overcome our weaknesses and to be such servants that our superiors and our people might say, “I have no one else like him.”

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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