Philippians 2:19-24 ~ how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord

Philippians was written during Paul's house imprisonment in Rome (his first imprisonment). He probably did go back to Philippi, Greece. Timothy was to go 2-3 or more times, recorded in Scriptures. Timothy, historians write, was eventually the Bishop of Ephesus. (Poor Timothy.) Living to the age of 80 or 90.
What the Circus Maximus - horse races looked like, the Christians liked horse racing and it continued after Constantine embraced Christianity.
Circus Maximus today. If you've seen the excellent Charlton Heston movie, "Ben Hur" this is where Judah Ben Hur would have raced in Rome.

Philippians 2:19-24

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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 [child] 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.

Timothy! Wouldn't we all like someone like Timothy, or lots of Timothys, in our every day life. Paul loves Timothy and calls him a son. Timothy is mentioned in the Bible 28 times.

When Jesus sent 72 disciples out, he sent them two by two.

Luke 10:1
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.


Timothy's portion, the 28 times he's mentioned in Scriptures, begins in Acts 16:

Acts 16:1-3
¹ Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. ² The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. ³ Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

Timothy traveled with Paul (see the travel lists in blue below). It's great to learn of someone Paul considered to be his spiritual son. In Acts 16, Lydia, the seller of purple (like being the head of Harrod's in London, purple was only sold to royalty) is converted. Lystra, today Turkey, then Galatia, must have been a wealthy area. In Ian Wilson's book, Jesus the Evidence, he references a 1st century letter from a Rabbi Licanthra who asks a fellow Jew, how will they keep going as Jews when miracle after miracle keep happening in Jesus' name? Rabbi Licanthra is convinced that with so many miracles, he is concerned it is the end of their faith. He is concerned and unhappy.

2 Timothy 1:1-8
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, my dear son:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. ⁸ So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.

Paul doesn't see Timothy as perfect. He sees Timothy as someone growing in the Lord with faith. If Paul doesn't require perfection, Jesus doesn't expect more of us than we are capable of. Paul sees someone seeing how it will go and trusting in the Lord.


2 Timothy 3:10-17
You (Timothy), however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.


2 Corinthians 1:20-24
8 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”

20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

23 I call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.


Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul's Second Missionary Journey (50-53 AD) - Acts 15:36-18:22, with Silas

1. Antioch (starting point)
2. Syria and Cilicia
3. Derbe
4. Lystra – Timothy joins the party
5. Phrygia and Galatia – Holy Spirit prevents them going to Bithynia
6. Troas – Paul's vision of the man of Macedon
7. Philippi – conversion of Lydia, thrown in jail, earthquake, conversion of jailer – Gospel goes to Europe
8. Thessalonica
9. Berea (Veria) – Jews examine scriptures – memorial of Paul's preaching
10. Athens – Paul preaches the Unknown God on the Areopagus
11. Corinth – Paul stays for 18 months, with Aquila and Priscilla, writes 1 and 2 Thessalonians
12. Ephesus – farewell
13. Jerusalem
14. Return to Syria

Paul's Third Missionary Journey - Acts 18:23-28:31, with Timothy

1. Phrygia and Galatia
2. Ephesus– Paul stays for two years, writes 1 Corinthians and possibly Galatians
3. Macedonia – Paul writes 2 Corinthians
4. Corinth– Paul stays 3 months, writes Romans
5. Troas – stays for 7 days; Eutychus and the nighttime meeting
6. Assos (Behramkale) – Acts 20:13,14 - Aristotle taught here
7. Mitylene
8. Samos
9. Miletus – farewell speech to Ephesians (?)
10. Jerusalem– imprisoned
11. Caesarea – Paul in prison for two years; Felix, Festus, Agrippa
12. Malta – shipwreck en route to Rome

Paul in Rome

According to early tradition, Paul was imprisoned in Rome in 53-62 AD (house arrest, able to have meetings, friends) and again in 64 AD (terrible dungeon). While in Rome he wrote the New Testament books of Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. According to the 4th-century historian Eusebius, he was beheaded in Rome in 67 AD.

1st column order in the Bible
2nd (column) approximate date written AD

52 (13): 1st Thessalonians
53 (14): 2nd Thessalonians
48 (9): Galatians
46 (7): 1 Corinthians
47 (8): 2 Corinthians
45 (6): Romans

49 (10): Ephesians
50 (11): Philippians
51 (12): Colossians
57 (18): Philemon

54 (15): 1st Timothy
55 (16): 2nd Timothy
56 (17): Titus
58 (19): Hebrews

The two ideas of Paul's timing don't quite agree.

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