Timothy the Unique Helper - PH57-02

Advanced Bible Doctrine - Philippians 2:19-21

He rejoices, he says, in giving up things in life which every pastor-teacher must do in order to be free to teach doctrine so that others would have the advantage of being able to secure the mind of Christ. Paul's personal sacrifices, however, were not done grudgingly, and therefore they resulted in great personal happiness for him. As we follow the same pattern of sacrificial service, we will find that we may have to give up things that others are free to enjoy, but that will not in any way detract from our personal happiness. In fact, it will enhance it. So what Paul wants the Philippians to do is to join him in this mental attitude that finds joy in making doctrine available to people at any cost, including his very life itself.

Timothy

It begins with the word "but" which in the Greek language is the little word "de." This word indicates a transition from what Paul has said in verses 17-18 where he has recognized the possibility of his being executed by the Roman government. He's in prison at the time that he's writing this. He recognizes the possibility of having to offer his life in behalf of the ministry of the Philippian Christians. He calls upon them to rejoice with him and to share in the joy of personal Christian service. So he makes a transition from that point of rejoicing in the Lord's service to something that he is going to do which will contribute to his rejoicing and to their rejoicing. So this word indicates a transition.

"But," he says, "I trust." The word trust is the Greek word "elpizo." "Elpizo" really means basically "to hope"–to note something which a person is looking for or something which a person is anticipating. It is in the present tense. Therefore, this reflects to us the fact that this was Paul's constant expectation. It is active, which shows that it is his personal anticipation. It is indicative, which means he is making a statement of fact. Paul is expressing something which is an abiding hope with him–an abiding anticipation.

However, he wants to identify where this abiding hope and anticipation comes from. So he says, "This hope is in the Lord Jesus." The word "in" is the Greek word "en," and it means "in the sphere," or "in the element" in which Paul's hope is placed. In other words, Paul is placing his hope in something very specific as we are going to see in a moment. He identifies that as the Lord Jesus.

Let's look at the word "Jesus." It looks like this in the Greek Bible: "iesous." The word "iesous" actually is a transliteration of the Hebrew word for "Joshua." The Hebrew word "Joshua" conveyed, letter-for-letter, into the Greek language comes out "iesous." So the meaning of the word "iesous" is determined for us by the meaning of the word "Joshua" in the Hebrew. Joshua in Hebrew means "Jehovah is salvation," or "Jehovah is Savior." Matthew 1:21 tells us that this name was specifically given to the Lord Jesus Christ upon the commandment of the angel sent from God to Joseph, his foster father. This was his personal human name, "Jesus," and it meant "Jehovah is Savior." The reason given in Matthew 1:21 is because Jesus was coming as the Savior of mankind.

Lord

It is used in that way with several meanings. For example, it is used of an owner in Luke 19:33, Matthew 20:8, Acts 16:16, and Galatians 4:1. If you read those verses, you will find this word "kurios" used, and it's the owner–a man who owns something–a man who owns a vineyard–and he is called the "lord" in the sense of an "owner."

Then it is also used of a master–one to whom service is due. We have this use of the word "Lord" in Matthew 6:24, Matthew 24:50, and Ephesians 6:5. There, "kurios" is used in terms of someone who is a master over another person.

Or it is used also in this general way of an emperor or a king. You'll find this in Act 25:26 and Revelation 17:14. An emperor or a king was addressed as a lord.

It is also used of idols as in 1 Corinthians 8:5. The same idea is expressed in the Old Testament in Isaiah 26:13 where an idol is called the "lord." So sometimes in the Greek world, this word "kurios" was used in reference to idols.

It was also just used as a title of respect which was addressed to different people under different circumstances. In Matthew 21:30, we have a father called a "lord" in terms of respect. In 1 Peter 3:6, the word "lord" is used of a husband. Sara called Abraham "lord." That was a title of respect. In Matthew 13:27, it is used of a master as an expression of respect. In Matthew 27:63, it is used of a ruler in terms of respect. In Acts 10:4 and in Revelation 7:14, it's used of an angel. An angel is called "lord" in terms of respect.

Then it was also used simply as a title of courtesy to a stranger. When a stranger came into your home, one of the ways that you would express your respect and courtesy toward him was to address him by the title "kurios." You would say, "Welcome, "kurios," meaning "Welcome, lord." We have this in John 12:21, John 20:15, and in Acts 16:30.

This particular usage of "kurios," in terms of respect, was the way most people referred to the Lord Jesus while He was here on earth. People in general would address Him with the title "kurios" just out of respect. It had no other significance than the fact that, "I'm addressing you in a respectful way." We have this illustrated in Matthew 8:2 and in John 4:11. Then the Lord's disciples, when they moved about with Him, and when they spoke to Him, they also addressed Him in a respectful way by the title of "Lord." We have this illustrated in Matthew 8:25, Luke 5:8, and John 6:68. In other words, the disciples did not call the Lord Jesus Christ by his given name, Jesus. They didn't call Him by that human name Jesus. They didn't address him as Jesus. They would address in as "Lord," a respectful title.

This is what we're headed for. The Jews used this word "lord" in a very special way. As you know, the Old Testament Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in a version that's called the "Septuagint", which means 70. It uses these Roman numerals, LXX, as the code symbol for that translation. It's a Greek translation of the Old Testament Bible, supposedly done by 70 translators, so it's called the 70. But when they translated the Old Testament into Greek, they would come upon certain names of God. They had to pick a Greek word that would reflect to them the concept of deity.

For example, one of the names of God is "Adon." We have this used in Deuteronomy 6:16. When the translators came to Deuteronomy 6:16, they translated that in the Septuagint Bible by using this word "kurios." We have this quoted in Matthew 4:7 which quotes that Greek translation of Deuteronomy 6:16.

Another name for God is "Adoni." We have this translated in Isaiah 7:14 by the word "kurios." We have this quoted in Matthew 1:22. Another name for God, of course, is "elohim." "Elohim" is used in Isaiah 40:6-8. 1 Peter 1:25 quotes the Septuagint Greek Bible which translated this verse. When they came to the word "elohim," they again used this word "kurios"–this word "lord." In Psalm 34:8, this psalm is about God in his name "Jehovah." "Jehovah" is the most supreme and sacred name of God. We come to 1 Peter 2:3-4, which is referring to Psalm 34:8. It uses, again, the word "kurios" as the name for "lord," which in the Old Testament is the word "Jehovah." It applies this to Jesus Christ.

In other words, the Septuagint translation, as it was brought down into the New Testament by quotation, shows us that "kurios" was the word to show that they were talking about deity, and they applied the name to Jesus Christ, showing that there was a relationship between Jehovah God of the Old Testament and Jesus of Nazareth of the New Testament. He was not just a human being. He was a God Man.

So the word "lord" among the Jews had a special meaning. That's my point. It had all these general meanings we looked at, and people addressed Christ in a general way with the word "lord" out of respect. But when the Jews used the word "lord," they had a special meaning for that word which was deity. The word "lord" simply meant deity. It was after the resurrection of Jesus Christ that they began calling Him regularly by the title of "Lord," in the sense of the Jewish use as deity. Up to then, the disciples were still confused. When the crucifixion took place, they were all confused. They didn't understand what was taking place. But after Christ was raised from the dead, finally they got it all together. They then definitely very clearly recognized that He was not just man, but that He was God Man. He was 100% true deity. The Jews just did not go around calling people by the title of "Lord" in the sense of deity unless they understood that this person was God.

This is exactly what happened. Finally in that upper room, when the disciples were meeting on that second occasion, Thomas saw in the body of Jesus Christ wounds which were mortal. Yet, he saw this human being who had a deadly wound in Him living before him. Immediately, the mind of Thomas connected the two points. If this person is alive with a mortal wound in His body, this person is not just human. He is more than human. He is God. So you remember what he said in John 20:28. He addressed him as "my Lord and my God." He used the title "Lord," meaning my divine one, my divine person, my deity, and my God.

Peter, in the sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:36, applies the title of "kurios" to Jesus in order to establish the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was God. In the House of Cornelius, we have Peter declaring Jesus to be "Lord of all," again, applying this term as Jews used it to mean deity (Act 10:36). Please remember that all the apostles were Jews. They belonged to the only monotheistic race in the New Testament world. Therefore, when we see these men, after the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, regularly applying the title of "Lord" to Him, that is indication that these monotheistic Jews recognized deity in the Son of God.

Among the New Testament Christians, "kurios," therefore, came to suggest and to imply full deity. This is why the Christians sometimes refused to serve in the Roman army, because they were required to pledge allegiance to the Emperor as the "kurios," the divine one. The word "kurios" to them meant deity, and there was only one person that they applied that to, and that was Jesus Christ. They would, therefore, refuse to take that kind of an oath.

My number three son this week pointed out to me in his history book at school the statement that Christians refused to serve in the Roman army because Jesus thought that killing was wrong, and Jesus was against war. Some dummy wrote the history book who doesn't know any doctrine, and therefore made two wrong statements. Jesus Christ is not against killing. That's why God established capital punishment. Nor is Jesus Christ against war. That's why God, in the Old Testament, very carefully explained the doctrine of warfare to his people so they would know how to proceed to conduct a war.

Not the least principle of war was that all wars are always to be won. It is against doctrine to ever fight a war without the intention of winning it. This violates doctrine. The only way you can bring peace is to break the ability of the enemy to make war. Therefore, the objective is always peace. To reach that objective, you must be able to stop the enemy from being able to make war. So that requires victory. All of this is very clear.

The writers of this history book just don't know what they're talking about. As a matter of fact, some of the finest units in the Roman army were all Christians. They were all believers, but they were operating under a condition that did not apply the title of deity to the Emperor. They did not call him "lord" in the sense of the divine one. They applied that only to the Savior.

The apostle Paul regularly uses this word "Lord Jesus," thus indicating to us the recognition of Jesus as the God Man. "Lord" means God, and "Jesus" represents the man part. So this a very apt title to refer to the God Man. That's what the apostle Paul does. He does this in many places, which again you can pursue at your own leisure. In historical references to Jesus Christ, he calls him "Lord Jesus." We have this in Acts 20:35 and in 1 Corinthians 11:23. In references to Christ's suffering, he speaks of Him as "Lord Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10). In references to Christ coming again to this earth, He is referred to as "Lord Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 2:19). In reference to prayer, he speaks of "Lord Jesus" (Ephesians 1:3, 1 Thessalonians 3:11). As the object of our faith, he speaks of "Lord Jesus" (Acts 16:31, Acts 20:21). As the source of deliverance for believers it is "Lord Jesus" that Paul speaks of (Romans 7:24-25). As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself assumed the title of deity. He Himself assumed this title of "kurios." We have this in Matthew 7:21-22, Mark 5:19, and Luke 19:31. So even Christ Himself made it clear that He was God.

I stress that to you so that you will understand, henceforth, as you read your Bible, every time you see this word "Lord," that it was a very significant Greek word, the Greek word "kurios," and it meant deity as it is used in the New Testament. It meant deity as it was used by the believers of the New Testament world following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That clearly established that they were dealing with a God Man. When the apostle Paul refers to Him as Lord Jesus, he is signifying his recognition of the God Man.

Yet today the cults deny, in one way or another, that Jesus Christ is true God, and the liberal theologian readily joins them in denying that Jesus was something more than just a mere man. All the liberal sees in Christ is a good man who became a martyr to show us a way to live a better life. Yet the very words that are used to describe this person, this Jesus of Nazareth, this very word "Lord" is indicative to us that they are wrong. "Kurios" is deity.

So, getting back to Philippians 2:19, the apostle Paul, therefore, says, "I have a strong hope and anticipation which is centered in the divine person Jesus of Nazareth, the divine God Man Jesus of Nazareth. This hope (or an expectation) is based upon the divine viewpoint that He has given me." In other words, Paul is not basing this upon some human viewpoint, rosy, hope-for-the-best kind of optimism that he will be able to do this thing that he's going to describe to them. He is not confident in some determined effort on his own that will be able to bring off this anticipation.

Paul says, "Which is to send." The word "send" is the Greek word "pempo." "Pempo" here refers to the mission upon which he is going to send Timothy to the church in Philippi and to the various congregations that meet there. This is in the aorist tense which refers to the point in time when Timothy leaves what he is currently doing, and is detached to go to Philippi. It is active which means that Paul himself will direct Timothy to leave what he is doing and to go to Philippi. It is infinitive which is the mood to express purpose. Paul's purpose is to send Timothy on a mission to Philippi because he wants to know something about what is happening with the believers there.

Timothy's name in Greek is "Timotheos." He was the young man associated with Paul. We have looked at his life extensively earlier in this course. Paul says that he plans to send Timothy, his associate, shortly. The word "shortly" is "tacheos," and it really means "quickly." There is an urgency about the dispatch of Timothy to Philippi. He is going to do this in order, he says, "That I may know of your state." He's going to send Timothy in order that he may know what is going on in the city of Philippi. "But I hope earnestly in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheos quickly unto you–to the people in Philippi.

What's the purpose? He says, "That." This is the Greek word "hina." This word introduces why Paul is going to send Timothy on this mission to Philippi. This is indicating purpose, which is now going to be explained to us.

"I also." The Greek word is "kago." "Kago" is made up of two words: "kai," and "ego." When you put the two together, it compacts itself to "kago." "Kai" means "also," and "ego" means "I." So we get the idea of, "I also." Paul wants to have something along with the joy that he has called upon them to have. He says that he is sending Timothy so that, "He also will be of good comfort." All of these words, "may be of good comfort" is actually one word in the Greek. Its "eupsucheo." This comes from "eu" which means "to be well." Then the last part of the word comes from "psuche" which you will recognize as being the word for "soul." So what we have here is actually Paul saying, "I want to be well-souled." He wants a condition of well-being in his soul. That is, he wants to be at ease in his soul. He wants to be of good cheer.

So he's going to send Timothy on a mission to Philippi because there is something he wants to know about what is happening with the Christians in Philippi in order that his soul may be at ease about them in certain respects. This is present tense. Paul says, "I want to be constantly in a state of tranquility in my soul." It is active–his own personal experience. But it is subjunctive mood. Subjunctive mood means that this is potential. That is, after Timothy gets back and gives them the information, it may be that Timothy will bring back something that will be a comfort to Paul. However, Timothy could get back to Paul and say, "You won't believe what's happening in the city of Philippi among the Christians. You just won't believe what a carnal mess they're in."

Please remember that Paul founded the church at Corinth. The church at Corinth begin splendidly. It was so monumentally blessed by God that Paul could say about that church that, "You're one church that doesn't lack any spiritual gifts. Everybody who comes in has a fantastic spiritual gift that you need in that work." Yet, as you read 1 and 2 Corinthians, you discover that the Corinthian church became the most carnal church in the New Testament. So Paul knows what can happen to a group of Christians. So this is subjunctive. It's a possibility. After Timothy gets back, the news may be good. Then he says, my heart (my soul) will be at ease within me.

The Spiritual Maturity Structure

Some Christians (not many) actually reach the super grace level of life where God's grace is being poured into their lives in such a way that it is not just only filling them, but it's overflowing from them. The capacity to be able to have super grace flowing out of your life requires a container in your soul into which God pours His grace. That container is a pentagon of spiritual maturity. We call it the spiritual maturity structure of the soul. This spiritual maturity has several definite sides to it.

It has grace orientation–knowing how to function on grace. It has a relaxed mental attitude; that is, you are free of bitterness and of hatred and have all these mental attitude sins that nobody sees, but which we can cover up with a nice front. That's "agape" love. We also have a mastery of the details of life. There are certain things that are important to us. We have to eat; we have to have clothes; we have to have food; we have to have transportation to get to work. However, all of those are seen as details. Even our entertainment is something that is secondary to one big thing in life, and that is taking doctrine into our souls.

We also have to have the capacity to love. You cannot love God because you decide to do it. You cannot love your wife or husband because you decide to do it. People who do end up getting divorced. You cannot love your friends because you decide to do it. People who do keep changing friends. They have a reject pile of friends. It takes a capacity for this kind of love toward God; toward your mate; and, toward your friends. Only doctrine can give it to you. Finally, it takes an inner happiness within your soul–a happiness which is there. You may not at any particular point in experience be in a happy situation. Paul was talking about such a thing here. While Paul had inner happiness in his soul, he was, in his experience, concerned about what was going on in Philippi until he got some information. But when you have inner happiness, there is a subtle peace within your soul that is not affected by people, by circumstances, or by things.

The only way you get this kind of a structure of spiritual maturity, so that the super grace of God can pour in and start overflowing this thing, is through Bible doctrine being poured into your soul. That's what a pastor-teacher is supposed to be doing for you–pouring doctrine into your soul; that is, giving you the opportunity to bring it in by teaching it to you. His concern then will be how you are doing. Where do you stand on this? How far along have you gone? This is an inclined plane. You're either moving forward or you're moving back. You're never standing still in the Christian life. You never get to the point where you don't need a pastor-teacher to be explaining doctrine to you.

The apostle Paul says, "I want to know what's happening in Philippi, because when he left these people, they were well on their way toward the super grace life. But Paul also knows that when you go the other direction, that's called reversionism in the Christian life. That's reversion, or retrogression. This is a constant threat to every individual believer. The reason that reversion is a threat to the believer is because there is within your soul a certain problem that exists. You have within your soul an old sin nature. Everyone is born with it, so everybody has it: nice people; bad people; good people; no-good people; born again people; and, people who are unbelievers. All of them have old sin natures.

Wanting Something New

But the reason people do that is because the old sin nature is sitting there just lusting and just yearning for this ultimate experience. So it causes a human being's eyes to be roving here and there in order to seek, "Where is it at? Where can I have the ultimate experience? If it's a religiously oriented person, he wants the ultimate experience in a relationship of fulfillment with God. If it is a believer, he too, caught under the lust pattern of seeking something new, will seek that ultimate fulfillment in a relationship to God in all sincerity, not realizing that it is motivated by his old sin nature.

Among Christians, this causes a person who is at super grace level to be tempted to start moving back down into reversionism. We have many fads which are popularized among Christians. Regularly, books are being printed to explain a whole new marvelous approach to God. One of the fads currently is body life–getting together and sharing your experiences with one another. People get all oozy and warm and excited, and feel that they have really come close to God. Another has been the widespread acceptance of the white magic demons performing miracles, but giving God the credit–the white magic of the charismatic movement–the tongues movement–the healing crowd. This is another attempt to find something new. Christians get into these meetings, and they see all this jumping and this hopping and this claiming of miracles to take place. Pretty soon, you find yourself getting tremendously excited and saying, "Well, that's where it must be at." I have read articles in national Christian publications where the editors have said that the activity and the zeal in the charismatic movement is so great that that must be where the Spirit of God is working. So a bunch of ignorant people go rushing into that trap.

Then somebody else comes along and says, "I've got a hot system for reaching people. With this witnessing, people will be saved left and right." So they run off because that's where it's at. Another group says, "We meet in our home–just my wife, and a few couples. We meet together and we sing together. Then we read the Bible and we tell each other out of our ignorance what we think it means." They think that's where it's at.

These fads are constantly being thrust upon us. This is part of the realm of Christian education. This quality of chasing off after something different to find the ultimate in a relationship of blessing to God is amply illustrated in the Bible. In Act 17:18-21, you may read the description of Paul's discussion with the intellectual philosophers in the city of Athens. You will find that that passage, in so many words, declares to you that these men lived only to hear something new. What were the philosophers, men of high IQ, responding to? The lust of the old sin nature to go chasing off someplace to find where it's at: something new; some new approach; or, some new technique.

We have this illustrated in Ephesians 4:14 where reversionistic, untaught, negative, carnal believers are described as being children because they're tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes along. Every time somebody comes and blows into their ear with a new fad; a new technique; or, a new way of doing the Lord's work, they get all excited and they say, "Well, here is where it's at. If I go by this means, I'll make progress with the Lord."

Or we have all these churches in Galatia. Paul wrote the book of Galatians to these churches. Do you know why he wrote the book? Because the Christians in those churches had deserted the grace way of life. What had they substituted for? Legalism. Some Jewish people had come into their churches and they said, "Folks, the way to really get to God is the way Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and all the great patriarchs approached God: circumcision; burning the offerings; and, observing the holy feast days. These idiots in Galatia listened to them and believed them. They gave up the freedoms of grace as the children of God, and went back to law-keeping. They went back to tithing. They went back to the whole crummy bit that men had been freed from. Why? Because they were out there looking for something new. Read about it in Galatians 5:4-8. But Paul gives us a very definitive warning about where all this chasing of the old sin nature after something new is going to lead. 2 Timothy 3:7 describes these people as, "Ever learning, and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."

Here's the point. The super grace life may be viewed as a mountain peak. You have arrived at this peak by moving slowly up the mountain as the result of the HICEE method of receiving teaching and the Word of God: Hermeneutics; Isagogics; Categories of truth; Exegesis; and, Etymology (the meaning of words). In other words, a pastor-teacher is teaching you the Word of God on this basis. He's actually showing you from the original languages of the Bible where he's getting the stuff he's telling you. So when you leave, you can't say, "Well, I listened to Dr. So-and-so, and this is what he says." Who cares what Dr. So-and-so says? Nobody cares what anybody else says. The only thing we should care about is what God says. So if the pastor-teacher has done his job, he has given you the capacity to move on up toward the mountain to reach the level of spiritual maturity in your spiritual maturity structure, and super grace level–way up there at the top.

You have finally arrived, and here you are, standing up there holding your flag in your hand as the wind is blowing, and you're enjoying the summit that you have reached. You are up there at the very peak. That is it. That's where it's at. That's the name of this peak: "Where it's at." You're there. Now, here's what happens. The old sin nature starts eating away at you. You've come up here by proper teacher, teaching, and technique. That has brought you to that point. You have sat under a pastor-teacher who knows his business and functions under it. You've been positive to the intake of doctrine. That's the only place you can go. There is no place you can go except to the top of the mountain. So there you are. You have arrived there.

Now a fad comes along, shooting down upon you. You look up, and you see that this fad is a cloud. The person says, "The way you get really close to God is you lie down here at the peak of the mountain. You look up in the sky. You don't worry about doctrine. You just let God fill your heart. You just let God speak to you." Pretty soon, without knowing it, you've started to slip back down the mountain. Reversionism has set in. You didn't realize that, since you're already at the top of the mountain, any direction you take from there, other than that by which you got there, is going to be down. There's no place else to go in every direction but down. The thing that brought you there is the HICEE pastor-teacher functioning technique. The only thing that will keep you there is that technique.

So you go chasing off after tongues, and you're in reversionism. You go chasing off after healings, and you're in reversionism. You go associating with charismatics–that's a dangerous thing to do, and it's a dumb thing to do–to be in fellowship with charismatics, and you go down the mountain into reversionism. You get caught up in body life, and so you find a church where you can sit around and share your experiences and what you think, and you've gone into reversionism. Where once you were at the very peak of the mountain, any other direction is down.

If you are in the valley, there is only spiritual darkness and spiritual insanity. You were brought here by soul food, and now somebody else has come along and said, "It isn't soul food that you need (which is Bible doctrine). What you need is something else." Then they give you the fad. So you start feeding on the husks and the slop of human viewpoint. It may be the human viewpoint of the charismatics; the human viewpoint of the body life crowd; the human viewpoint of the cults; or, the human viewpoint of anybody else. The cults are very appealing, by the way, too, in order to give you the impression that, "Yes, that's wonderful where you've come. But now if you really want to get up there with God, this is what you need."

All you end up doing is going down the mountain. So beware of the emotional delusion which makes reversionism appear to be moving forward with God to higher levels of blessing and fruitfulness. That is what I mean by spiritual insanity. Your mind becomes so deranged in spiritual things that while you're going down, you actually think you're going up. While you're going down the mountain into spiritual darkness, you think you're getting closer to God. People who are chasing off after these fads are pathetically trapped up in that delusion.

Because a pastor-teacher knows this, or because an apostle like Paul knew this, this is the reason for his concern. He knew the quality of the old sin nature to be looking for where it's at, and to be moving from a point of spiritual maturity to chase some fad or some promise of greater relationship to God than you can get through doctrine. He knows that there is that lust in the old sin nature, and a negative Christian will be trapped by that lust. A Christian who goes negative toward doctrine will expose himself to finding that appeal from the old sin nature attractive to him. Paul remembered what happened in Galatia–grace churches that went to pot. Paul remembered what happened in Corinth–a church mightily blessed with spiritual gifts, and it went downhill. So he is naturally concerned for the situation back here with the Philippian Christians.

For that reason, he says, "I'm going to send Timothy to you quickly in order (and his purpose is) that he himself may come to good comfort," and that good comfort is going to be dependent upon his knowing their situation. "When I know of your state:" the word "know" is 'ginosko." This means to come to a knowledge as the result of information which is going to be brought to Paul via Timothy. This is not intuitive knowledge. This is something that you have to learn. So we translate this, because it's aorist, as "having known," or "having come to know." Aorist is at the point when Timothy reports back to Paul. It's active. Paul personally will then have this knowledge. It's participle. It's a statement of principle. As we pointed out, the relationship between an aorist participle and the main verb of the sentence gives us a time sequence. It indicates to us the order in which things have to take place. Since "having come to know" is an aorist participle, that has to come first, and then the action of the main verb, which is "to be of good courage."

In other words, before Paul can be at peace in his soul, he has to have some information concerning how the Christians in the city of Philippi are coming along. So he is waiting for that information "concerning your state." Literally this is "the things concerning you"– their spiritual progress.

So we may translate verse 19 in this way: "But I am hoping in the Lord Jesus, quickly, to send Timothy to you in order that I also may be of good cheer, having come to know of your situation."

Dr. John E. Danish, 1973

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