Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Timothy 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

1, 2. The Salutation to Timothy

1. an apostle of Jesus Christ ] Read with the mss. Christ Jesus, and see note on 1Ti 1:1 for the frequency of this order of the words.

by the will of God ] This phrase with the preceding words in precisely the same order commences the Ep. to Colossians and Ep. to Ephesians, followed in the former by ‘and Timothy our brother.’ The phrase also introduces both 1 Cor. and 2 Cor. The use here shews that there is no asserting of impugned authority intended by it; but rather there is a going back to the first calling and sending by God, from no personal merit, but by His purpose of mercy alone; and apostle through the will of God is a short phrase for the full statement of Gal 1:15-16, ‘it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.’

according to the promise of life ] This, for Timothy, is the sphere of his apostleship as of his life. ‘To me to live is Christ.’ If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.’ Lay hold on the life which is life indeed.’ For the apostleship in regard to Titus and the Cretans see note on Tit 1:1. Render, with R.V., the promise of the life, the article with ‘in Christ Jesus’ making ‘life’ definite at once; while according to regular use no article is required in the Greek prepositional phrase on which ‘life’ depends, ‘according to the promise,’ from the nature of the word ‘promise.’ Compare the usage in 1Ti 4:8, ‘having the promise of the life which now is and which is to come.’ That passage and 1Ti 6:12 give the clue to the choice of the phrase here. Timothy there is exhorted to train himself in the godliness which has the promise of ‘the divine life’ and to ‘lay hold of it’ (see notes). So here his spiritual father recalls his own experience and assurance to encourage his son the free love of God which had laid hold of him and given him work as the seal of pardon, and (in the doing of that work) ‘life in Christ Jesus,’ begun here to be perfected hereafter in spite of persecution. The greater the sense of sin, the stronger the sense of rescuing ‘grace and mercy,’ and the clearer the assurance of ‘peace,’ the crown of blessings.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, – See the notes at Rom 1:1.

By the will of God – Called to be an apostle in accordance with the divine will and purpose; see the notes at Gal 1:1.

According to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus – In accordance with the great promise of eternal life through the Saviour; that is, he was called to be an apostle to carry out the great purpose of human salvation; compare Eph 3:6. God has made a promise of life to mankind through faith in the Lord Jesus, and it was with reference to this that he was called to the apostleship.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

2Ti 1:1-2

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.

The dignity of preachers

Preachers are to maintain the dignity of their persons. Because a good name is as precious ointment, above great riches, and more than the choicest silver and gold, to be regarded. It will rejoice the heart, whereas the contrary is a curse, and to be avoided. Otherwise, if ministers be ill reported of, their doctrine (be it never so sound or sovereign for the soul)

will be despised, rejected. If the vessel be counted unsweet, who will with alacrity taste of the liquor: The Word will not speed if the preacher be despised. And for procuring a good report–

1. Be diligent in the discharge of thy duty; avoid idleness in thy Calling.

2. Take heed thou be not justly accused of that which thou hast severely censured in others.

3. Speak not evil of others, for with what measure we mete it shall be measured to us again. Could we cover others infirmities, they would do the like for us.

4. Seek the glory of God in thy proceedings, for they who honour God shall be honoured of Him, whereas they who seek themselves shall be abased. The people also must take heed how they detract from the credit of their pastors. Nature, by a sacred instinct, will defend the head with the loss of the hand. Why, the preacher is the head of the people, and therefore to be respected; and it is an old axiom, Do My prophets no harm (Psa 105:15). (J. Barlow, D. D.)

Life shaped by the will of God

In 1798 a child was born at Rome, N.Y. His father was a mechanic. At school he showed good talents, and his father at length consented that he might attempt to get a liberal education. His heart was set on the law, but God made him a minister, turned his thoughts towards the Holy Scriptures as a field of study, and before he died (at the age of seventy-two years) a million volumes, of which he was the author, had been sold. This is a very brief sketch of the Rev. Albert Barnes. Now, did he do all these things of his own power and wisdom? Not at all. Hear his modest and truthful statement on the subject: I have carried out none of the purposes of any early years. I have failed in those things which I had designed, and which I hoped to accomplish. I have done what I never purposed or expected to do. I have known what it was to weep at discouragements. I have been led along contrary to my early anticipations. I can now see, I think, that while I have been conscious of entire freedom in all that I have done, yet that my whole life has been under the absolute control of a Higher Power, and that there has been a will and a plan in regard to my life which was not my own. Even my most voluntary acts, I can see, have been subservient to that higher plan, and what I have done has been done as if I had no agency in the matter. (J. Plumer, D. D.)

According to the promise of life.

The promise of life

The specific form of the whole gospel is promise, which God gives in the Word and causes to be preached. The last period of the world is the reign of grace (Rom 5:21). Grace reigns in the Word, only as promise. Grace has nothing to do with law and requisition of law, therefore the word of that grace can be no other than a word of promise. Hence and form an indissoluble unity (Rom 4:16). For to this end Christ is the Mediator of the New Covenant, that we might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Heb 9:15). The promise of life in Christ-form is the word of the New Covenant (2Ti 1:1). The difference between the gospel of the Old Covenant and that of the New rests alone on the transcendently greater glory of its promise (Heb 8:6; Heb 11:1-40. whole). That these great and precious promises are given to us (2Pe 1:4; 2Co 7:1) establishes the position of a Christian man; if he calls himself a son and heir, he has no other title for this except that of promise alone, purely of grace (Gal 4:28; Gal 3:29; Rom 4:16). That, and how God for His own sake blots out our transgressions, and remembers our sin no more (Isa 43:25), is the substance of the word of promise in the New Testament, and which confirms that of the Old. (J. Harless.)

Promise and payment

Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honour and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure and pays with pain; he promises profit and pays with loss; he promises life and pays with death. But God pays as He promises; all His payments are made in pure gold. (T. Brooks.)

Through death to life

An unusual addition to the opening formula of St. Pauls letters, probably rising out of the sense that the promise was near its fulfilment, and that he was about to pass through death to life. (E. H. Plumptre, D. D.)

The unwavering certainty of St. Paul in respect of his call to apostleship

1. Its foundation.

2. Its noble value.

Ministry in the gospel is no function of death, but a proclamation of life in Christ Jesus. (Dr. Van Oosterzee.)

Which is in Christ Jesus.

Ministerial relation with Christ

This must teach us who have any relation with Christ highly to esteem it and greatly to rejoice in it. Think it no small thing to be an officer in His house, a labourer in His vineyard, and a member of His body, for this is true nobility, unconceivable dignity, and the direct path to eternal felicity. Paul, a preacher of Jesus Christ, is a name of greater price and praise than all human titles and times adjuncts (though in their nature good) in all the world. (J. Barlow, D. D.)

To Timothy, my dearly beloved son.–

Timothy, the pious youth

Timothy is one of the unblamed youths of the Bible. He ranks along with Abel, Joseph, Moses, Josiah, and Daniel.

I. Timothys book. His father was a Greek and a heathen; but his mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois (who lived with them), were Jews and believers. They did their best for the godly upbringing of their bey; and they would be left to do as they liked in the matter. For heathen fathers gave more attention to their young dogs and horses than to their young children. Books were then very scarce and dear, and probably the Old Testament was the only book in their house. They used it well, and found it to be a library in itself, and the best childrens treasury.

II. Timothys home. The boy would be strongly tempted to follow his dashing heathen father, whose amusements would be such as boys most delight in; yet he sided with and took after his devout mother and grandmother. That fact speaks volumes for him. I believe that he gladly gave himself up to all the best influences of his home. Thus his mother was his mother thrice over, for she gave life to his mind and to his soul as she had given life to his body. Obedience is only one of the outward signs of the true spirit of a child. A girl once heard a sermon upon this subject. On the way home, feeling uneasy, she said, Mother, do I always obey you? You know best yourself, my dear, the mother replied. Well. I never disobey you, the girl continued, I always do what you bid me, but I sometimes go slow. The Bible shows concern chiefly about the kind and spirit of your obedience. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. The right feeling to parents is so like the right feeling to God that people have used one word for both. The noblest characters are found among those men who in youth yielded most to a mothers influence. You will find many striking proofs of my view in such books as Smiles Self-help and Character. The reason is soon found. Boys like Timothy unite in their characters what is best in roan and woman. They are rich in spirit beyond others, for Nature gives them manly strength, to which a mothers influence adds tenderness and sweetness. A well-known writer has said, In my best moments I find again my mother in myself. Usually man is the son of woman in his best gifts. A kiss from my mother, said West, made me a painter. To love your mother well, then, is a liberal education of head and heart.

III. Timothys conversion. Some, like Samuel, ramjet remember a time when they did not trust God. Their love to the Saviour is not an after-love, but a first love. Others, like Timothy, have a well-marked and a well-remembered conversion. Paul calls him my own son in the faith whom I have begotten in the gospel. Often the successful preacher but reaps what the mother had sowed, and watered with her prayers, and brought to the verge of harvest. Timothy must have been a mere boy at the time of his conversion. For he was quite young when he was ordained, and even when Paul wrote his Epistle to him, he was so boyish-looking that people might easily despise his youth. His early conversion was one chief reason why Timothy did so much good, and why he still remains such an inviting example of grace. It made him like Newton, of whom Bishop Burnet says, that he had the whitest soul he ever knew, and was as a very infant in purity of mind. Than youthful piety God has no better gift for you but heaven. (James Wells, M. A.)

The useful to be chiefly instructed

Such persons as are likely to prove good and excellent instruments in the Church are principally to be instructed and encouraged. We will water that plant most, hedge about it, and prune it, which is likeliest to bring forth much and good fruit; the beast of best hopes shall be put in the rankest pasture, the other turned to run in the common field and barrenest ground. (J. Barlow, D. D.)

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

The universal need of mercy

The salutation in the three pastoral Epistles introduces between the customary grace and peace the additional idea of mercy. It is a touching indication of the apostles own humility, and reveals his deepening sense of the need of mercy as he drew near the glory of the unveiled Face. It records the fact that if in Ephesus, Rome, or England there are any children of God who fancy they can rise above an utterance of the cry, God be merciful to me, apostles and ministers of Christ, even in view of the martyrs crown, cannot forget their profound need of Divine mercy. The association of Christ Jesus with God the Father as the common source of grace, mercy, and peace shows what St. Paul thought of his Lord. As he commenced his Epistle with this blended petition, we are not surprised to find that his last recorded words were, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. This was the sum of all blessedness, and the exalted Lord, Christ, was Himself the source of it. (H. R. Reynolds, D. D.)

Salutations

Salutations are not for compliment, but piety. (J. Barlow, D. D.)

Conduits of grace

Hear the Word, search the Scriptures, read good books, receive the sacraments, pray; confer, for these be as so many conduits whereby the Creator conveyeth grace into the soul of the creature. (J. Barlow, D. D.)

Mercy and grace essential to true peace

Dream not, then, that all is peace that seems so; for what peace can a profane person have within him that wanteth faith and grace? Nay, how ever he carry the matter, he is at war within himself. The wounded deer runs and skips and leaps, yet the arrow or bullet stings, pains, torments at the very heart, and before long will cause a fall, a death. So, under a cheerful look, the soul may be sorrowful, and all that laugh in the face are not at peace within. Who, then, is he that would have true and sound peace? Let him strive for mercy and grace; for as the shadow the body, heat the fire, these follow the one the other. Many imagine they have it, yet are foully deluded, deceived. I deny not but the wicked may have a peace; but it is not worth the naming, for it runs nor from a clear fountain, it springs not from a sweet root, and therefore one drop of this we have in hand is worth a thousand of that, as a little rose-water a whole glassful of mud. It is not constant neither, but often interrupted; every thunderclap will cause such to quake, to tremble, and at the last they shall certainly be consumed. Oh that men were wise to gather grace, so should they have peace at their latter end, and in the meanwhile be, like Mount Sion, unmovable! Grant that such may have outward troubles; yet they shall have inward peace that passeth all understanding. (J. Barlow, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO TIMOTHY.

Chronological Notes relative to this Epistle.

-Year of the Constantinopolitan era of the world, or that used by the Byzantine historians, 5573.

-Year of the Alexandrian era of the world, 5567.

-Year of the Antiochian era of the world, 5557.

-Year of the Julian period, 4775.

-Year of the world, according to Archbishop Usher, 4069

-Year of the world, according to Eusebius, in his Chronicon, 4293.

-Year of the minor Jewish era of the world, or that in common use, 3825.

-Year of the Greater Rabbinical era of the world, 4424.

-Year from the Flood, according to Archbishop Usher, and the English Bible, 2413.

-Year of the Cali yuga, or Indian era of the Deluge, 3167.

-Year of the era of Iphitus, or since the first commencement of the Olympic games, 1005.

-Year of the era of Nabonassar, king of Babylon, 812.

-Year of the CCXIth Olympiad, 1.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Fabius Pictor, 812.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Frontinus, 816.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to the Fasti Capitolini, 817.

-Year from the building of Rome, according to Varro, which was that most generally used, 818.

-Year of the era of the Seleucidae, 377.

-Year of the Caesarean era of Antioch, 113.

-Year of the Julian era, 110.

-Year of the Spanish era, 103.

-Year from the birth of Jesus Christ according to Archbishop Usher, 69

-Year of the vulgar era of Christ’s nativity, 65 or 66.

-Year of Gessius Florus, governor of the Jews, 1.

-Year of Vologesus, king of the Parthians, 16.

-Year of L. C. Gallus, governor of Syria, 1.

-Year of Matthias, high priest of the Jews, 3.

-Year of the Dionysian period, or Easter Cycle, 66.

-Year of the Grecian Cycle of nineteen years, or Common Golden Number, 9; or the first after the third embolismic.

-Year of the Jewish Cycle of nineteen years, 6, or the second embolismic.

-Year of the Solar Cycle, 18.

-Dominical Letter, it being the first after the Bissextile, or Leap Year, F.

-Day of the Jewish Passover, according to the Roman computation of time, the VIIth of the ides of April, or, in our common mode of reckoning, the seventh of April, which happened on this year on the day after the Jewish Sabbath.

-Easter Sunday, the day after the ides of April, or the XVIIIth of the Calends of May, named by the Jews the 22d of Nisan or Abib, and by Europeans in general, the 14th of April.

-Epact, or age of the moon on the 22d of March, (the day of the earliest Easter Sunday possible,) 28.

-Epact, according to the present mode of computation, or the moon’s age on New Year’s day, or the Calends of January, 5.

-Monthly Epacts, or age of the moon on the Calends of each month respectively, (beginning with January,) 5, 7, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12, 14, 14.

-Number of Direction, or the number of days from the twenty-first of March to the Jewish Passover, 17.

-Year of the reign of Caius Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, the fifth Roman emperor computing from Augustus Caesar, 12.

-Roman Consuls, A. Licinius Nerva Silanus, and M. Vestinius Atticus; the latter of whom was succeeded by Anicius Cerealis, on July 1st.

Dr. Lardner and others suppose this epistle to have been written in A. D. 56, i.e. nine years earlier than is stated above. See the preface to the First Epistle to Timothy, where this point is largely considered, and also the general observations prefixed to the Acts of the Apostles.

CHAPTER I.

Paul’s address to Timothy, and declaration of his affection for

him, 1-4.

His account of the piety of Timothy’s mother and grandmother,

and the religious education they had given their son, 5.

He exhorts him to stir up the gift of God that is in him, and

not to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, 6-8.

How God has saved them that believe; and how Christ has brought

life and immortality to light by the Gospel, 9,10.

The apostle’s call to preach it, and the persecutions which he

had been obliged in consequence to endure, 11, 12.

Timothy is exhorted to hold fast the form of sound words,

13, 14.

And is informed of the apostasy of several in Asia: and

particularly of Phygellus and Hermogenes, 15.

And of the great kindness of Onesiphorus to the apostle in his

imprisonment, 16-18.

NOTES ON CHAP. I.

Verse 1. Paul an apostle] St. Paul at once shows his office, the authority on which he held it, and the end for which it was given him. He was an apostle – an extraordinary ambassador from heaven. He had his apostleship by the will of God – according to the counsel and design of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. And he was appointed that he might proclaim that eternal life which God had in view for mankind by the incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ, and which was the end of all the promises he had made to men, and the commandments he had delivered to all his prophets since the world began. The mention of this life was peculiarly proper in the apostle, who had now the sentence of death in himself, and who knew that he must shortly seal the truth with his blood. His life was hidden with Christ in God; and he knew that, as soon as he should be absent from the body, he should be present with the Lord. With these words he both comforted himself and his son Timothy.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God: See Poole on “1Ti 1:1“.

According to the promise of life: it is much the same with Rom 1:1,2, according to the gospel, which he had promised afore by his prophets. These words either signify the end of his apostleship, to declare the gospel in which is the promise of life, or the matter of his preaching.

Which is in Christ Jesus; which eternal life was promised of old, but is not to be had but in Christ Jesus, and in him is the promise fulfilled.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. This Epistle is the lasttestament and swan-like death song of Paul [BENGEL].

according to the promise oflife . . . in ChristPaul’s apostleship is in orderto carry into effect this promise. Compare “according to thefaith . . . in hope of eternal life . . . promise,” c. (Tit 1:1Tit 1:2). This “promise oflife in Christ” (compare 2Ti 1:10;2Ti 2:8) was needed to nerveTimothy to fortitude amidst trials, and to boldness in undertakingthe journey to Rome, which would be attended with much risk (2Ti1:8).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ,…. Not of men, nor by men, but by Jesus Christ, from whom he was sent; by whom he was qualified; in whose name he came, and ministered; and whom he preached. Of his name Paul, and of his office, as an apostle,

[See comments on Ro 1:1] into which office he came

by the will of God; not by the will of man, no, not of the best of men, of James, Cephas, or John, or any of the other apostles; nor by his own will, he did not thrust himself into this office, or take this honour upon himself; nor was it owing to any merits of his, which he always disclaims, but to the will and grace of God; it was by the secret determining will of God, that he was from all eternity separated unto the Gospel of Christ; and it was by the revealed will of God to the church, that he, with Barnabas, was set apart to the ministry of the word; see Ro 1:1.

According to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus; or “with respect unto it”; this points at the sum and substance, or subject matter, and end of his apostleship, for which this grace was given to him, which was to publish the free promise of life and salvation by Jesus Christ. By “life” here is meant, not this corporeal life, which, and a continuation of it, were promised in the covenant of works, on condition of man’s obedience to it; but eternal life, the promise of which is a free promise made by God, of his own free sovereign will and pleasure, in the covenant of grace, from everlasting; and is an absolute and unconditional one, not at all depending upon the works of the law, or obedience to it; see Ro 14:16 and this promise is “in Christ”, in whom all the promises are yea and arisen: for it was made before the world began, Tit 1:2 when the persons on whose account it was made were not in actual being; but Christ, their head and representative, then existed; and to him it was given, and into his hands was it put for them, where it is sure to all the seed; and not only the promise, but the life itself is in him, and which is here intended. Christ, as Mediator, asked it of his Father for all his people, and he gave it to him, where it is hid safe and secure. Christ is the Prince or author of life; he is the procuring cause of it; he was sent, and came, that his sheep might have it; he gave his flesh, his human nature for it; and by his sufferings and death removed all obstructions which sin had thrown in the way, and opened the way for their enjoyment of it; and he is the giver of it to as many as the Father has given him; nor is it to be had in any other way, or of any other; but of him; and it lies in the knowledge of him, communion with him, and conformity to him. Now it is the business, of Gospel ministers, not to direct persons to work for life, or to seek to obtain eternal life by their own works of righteousness, but to hold forth the word of life, or to show men the way of life and salvation by Christ alone.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Introduction; Timothy’s Faith and Holiness.

A. D. 66.

      1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,   2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.   3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;   4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;   5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

      Here is, I. The inscription of the epistle Paul calls himself an apostle by the will of God, merely by the good pleasure of God, and by his grace, which he professes himself unworthy of. According to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, or according to the gospel. The gospel is the promise of life in Christ Jesus; life is the end, and Christ the way, John xiv. 6. The life is put into the promise, and both are sure in Christ Jesus the faithful witness; for all the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yea, and all amen, 2 Cor. i. 20. He calls Timothy his beloved son. Paul felt the warmest affection for him both because he had been an instrument of his conversion and because as a son with his father he had served with him in the gospel. Observe, 1. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God; as he did not receive the gospel of man, nor was taught it, but had it by the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. i. 12), so his commission to be an apostle was not by the will of man, but of God: in the former epistle he says it was by the commandment of God our Saviour, and here by the will of God. God called him to be an apostle. 2. We have the promise of life, blessed be God for it: In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began, Tit. i. 2. It is a promise to discover the freeness and certainty of it. 3. This, as well as all other promises, is in and through Jesus Christ; they all take their rise from the mercy of God in Christ, and they are sure, so that we may safely depend on them. 4. The grace, mercy, and peace, which even Paul’s dearly beloved son Timothy wanted, comes from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord; and therefore the one as well as the other is the giver of these blessings, and ought to be applied to for them. 5. The best want these blessings, and they are the best we can ask for our dearly-beloved friends, that they may have grace to help them in the time of need, and mercy to pardon what is amiss, and so may have peace with God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

      II. Paul’s thanksgiving to God for Timothy’s faith and holiness: he thanks God that he remembered Timothy in his prayers. Observe, Whatever good we do, and whatever good office we perform for our friends, God must have the glory of it, and we must give him thanks. It is he who puts it into our hearts to remember such and such in our prayers. Paul was much in prayer, he prayed night and day; in all his prayers he was mindful of his friends, he particularly prayed for good ministers, he prayed for Timothy, and had remembrance of him in his prayers night and day; he did this without ceasing; prayer was his constant business, and he never forgot his friends in his prayers, as we often do. Paul served God from his forefathers with a pure conscience. It was a comfort to him that he was born in God’s house, and was of the seed of those that served God; as likewise that he had served him with a pure conscience, according to the best of his light; he had kept a conscience void of offence, and made it his daily exercise to do so, Acts xxiv. 16. He greatly desired to see Timothy, out of the affection he had for him, that he might have some conversation with him, being mindful of his tears at their last parting. Timothy was sorry to part with Paul, he wept at parting, and therefore Paul desired to see him again, because he had perceived by that what a true affection he had for him. He thanks God that Timothy kept up the religion of his ancestors, v. 5. Observe, The entail of religion descended upon Timothy by the mother’s side; he had a good mother, and a good grandmother: they believed, though his father did not, Acts xvi. 1. It is a comfortable thing when children imitate the faith and holiness of their godly parents, and tread in their steps, 3 John 4.– Dwelt in thy grandmother and thy mother, and I am persuaded that in thee also. Paul had a very charitable opinion of his friends, was very willing to hope the best concerning them; indeed he had a great deal of reason to believe well of Timothy, for he had no man like-minded, Phil. ii. 20. Observe, 1. We are, according to St. Paul, to serve God with a pure conscience, so did his and our pious forefathers; this is to draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, Heb. x. 22. 2. In our prayers we are to remember without ceasing our friends, especially the faithful ministers of Christ. Paul had remembrance of his dearly beloved son Timothy in his prayers night and day. 3. The faith that dwells in real believers is unfeigned; it is without hypocrisy, it is a faith that will stand the trial, and it dwells in them as a living principle. It was the matter of Paul’s thanksgiving that Timothy inherited the faith of his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, and ought to be ours whenever we see the like; we should rejoice wherever we see the grace of God; so did Barnabas, Act 11:23; Act 11:24. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in the truth, 2 John 4.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

According to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus (‘ ). “With a view to the fulfilment of the promise.” See Tit 1:1 for this same use of . For ‘ see Ga 3:29. See 1Ti 4:8 for the phrase “promise of life.” Here or there “life that in Christ Jesus” includes the present as well as the future.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

INTRODUCTION TO 2 TIMOTHY (see also 1st Timothy Introduction)

AN OVERVIEW

KEY WORDS: (1) Not Ashamed, (2) Suffer Hardship, (3) Endure, (4) Word, (5) Charge, (6) Diligence

CHAPTER I (The Past)

1) The Apostolic Greeting’

2) Thanksgiving for Timothy

3) Foundations of Christian Sufferings

CHAPTER II (The Present)

1) Timothy Exhorted

2) Traits of the Christian Servant

3) A Good Soldier in Times of Apostasy

4) Separation From Evil Men

CHAPTER III (The Future)

1) Warning of Apostasy – Avoid it

2) Perilous Times and the Servant of God

3) Trustworthiness of the Scriptures

4) Fully Equipped Man of God

CHAPTER IV (The Future)

1) Paul’s Last Will and Testament (parting words)

2) The Charge to Keep, V. 1-5

3) The Wrestler, the Runner, the Sentry Soldier, V. 6-8

4) Victory ahead – V. 17-22 (Benediction)

OUTLINE OF SECOND TIMOTHY

(FACING PERILOUS TIMES)

INTRODUCTION (1:1-5)

A. The Writer(!: 1)

B. The Addressee (1:2a)

C. The Blessing (1:2b)

D. The Thanksgiving (1:3-5)

I. EXHORTATIONS (1:6-2:26)

A. “Stir Up the Gift of God” (1:6-10)

1. The Exhortation (1:6)

2. The Reason for the Exhortation (1:7-8)

3. The Basis of the Exhortation (1:9-10)

B. “That Good Thing …Guard” (1:11-14)

1. The Example of Paul (1:11-12)

2. The Duty of Timothy (1:13-14)

C. “Suffer Hardship with Me” (1:15-2:13)

1. Paul’s Experience with Fellow-workers (1:15-18)

a. The Failures (1:15)

b. The Faithful (1:16-18)

2. Paul’s Appeal to Timothy (2:1-13)

a. The Urgent Duty (2:1-7)

b. The Glorious Example (2:8)

c. The Saving Purpose (2:9-10)

d. The Faithful Saying (2:11-13)

D. Be an Unashamed Workman (2:14-26)

1. Reminding Others (2:14)

2. Seeking Approval (2:15)

3. Shunning Babblings (2:16-18)

4. Confident in the Lord (2:19a)

5. Forsaking Unrighteousness (2:19b-22)

6. Exercising a Restrained Gentleness (2:23-24)

7. Correcting Others (2:25-26)

II. WARNINGS (3:1-4:5)

A. Perilous Times Shall Come (3:1-13)

1. Decadent Men (3:1-9)

a. Characteristics (3:1-5)

b. Actions (3:6-7)

c. End (3:8-9)

2. Delivered Men (3:10-12)

a. Paul (3:10-11)

b. All the Godly (3:12)

3. Deception’s Power (3:13)

B. “Fulfill Thy Ministry” (3:14-4:5))

1. Abide in the Things Learned (3:14-17)

a. From the Apostle (3:14)

b. From the Sacred Writings (3:15-17)

2. “Preach the Word” (4:1-5)

a. The Charge (4:1-2a)

b. The Manner (4:2b)

c. The Need (4:3-4)

d. The Duty (4:5)

III. TESTIMONY

A. Paul’s Confidence as He Faces Death (4:6-8)

1. The End (4:6)

2. The Record (4:7)

3. The Reward (4:8)

B. Paul’s Request that Timothy Come to Him (4:9-15)

1. Paul and His Fellow-workers (4:9-12)

a. Timothy (4:9)

b. Demas (4:10a)

c. Crescens (4:10b)

d. Titus (4:10c)

e. Luke (4:11 a)

f. Mark (4:11 b)

g. Tychicus (4:12)

2. Paul and His Cloak, books, and Parchments (4:13)

3. Paul and an Enemy (4:14-15)

C. Paul’s Praise of His Faithful Lord (4:16-18)

1. The Lord Delivered (4:16-17)

2. The Lord Will Deliver (4:18)

CONCLUSION:

A. Added Personal References (4:19-21)

1. Salutations (4:19)

2. News (4:20)

3. Renewed Appeal (4:21a)

4. Greetings (4:21b)

B. Benediction (4:22)

THE APOSTOLIC GREETING

1) “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ (paulos apostolos christou iesou) “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.” The term “apostolos” denotes one divinely, authoritatively, church sent, Act 13:2-3; Act 26:16; Act 26:18.

2) “By the will of God” (dia thelematos theou) “Through the will of God;” the high holy volition of God, not “boule,” the rational will, Joh 7:17.

3) “According to the promise of life” (kat ‘ epangelian zoes) “By way of or based upon a promise of life;” 1Ti 4:8; “Which now is and (of the body) that is to come,” Tit 1:2; Tit 3:7; Rom 8:23.

4) “Which is in Christ Jesus,” (tes en christo iesou) “Which (exists) is in Christ Jesus,” 2Co 5:17; 2Co 5:21; Eph 2:8-10. This touching personal letter is the last of Paul’s life, written about 66 A.D., shortly before his death, 2Ti 4:6-8, from Rome to Timothy in Ephesus.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1 Paul an Apostle From the very preface we already perceive that Paul had not in view Timothy alone; other wise he would not have employed such lofty titles in asserting his apostleship; for what purpose would it have served to employ these ornaments of language in writing to one who was fully convinced of the fact? He, therefore, lays claim to that authority over all which belonged to his public character and he does this the more diligently, because, being near death, he wishes to secure the approbation of the whole course of his ministry, (135) and to seal his doctrine which he had labored so hard to teach, that it may be held sacred by posterity, and to leave a true portrait of it in Timothy.

Of Jesus Christ by the will of God First, according to his custom, he calls himself an “Apostle of Christ.” Hence it follows, that he does not speak as a private person, and must not be heard slightly, and for form’s sake, (136) like a man, but as one who is a representative of Christ. But because the dignity of the office is too great to belong to any man, except by the special gift and election of God, he at the same time pronounces a eulogy on his calling, by adding that he was ordained by the will of God His apostleship, therefore, having God for its author and defender, is beyond all dispute.

According to the promise of life That his calling may be the more certain, he connects it with the promises of eternal life; as if he had said, “As from the beginning God promised eternal life in Christ, so now he has appointed me to be the minister for proclaiming that promise.” Thus also he points out the design of his apostleship, namely, to bring men to Christ, that in him they may find life.

Which is in Christ Jesus He speaks with great accuracy, when he mentions that “the promise of life” was indeed given, in ancient times, to the fathers. (Act 26:6.) But yet he declares that this life is in Christ, in order to inform us that the faith of those who lived under the Law must nevertheless have looked towards Christ; and that life, which was contained in promises, was, in some respects, suspended, till it was exhibited in Christ.

(135) “Although, in all that Paul has left us in writing, we must consider that it is God who speaks to us by the mouth of a mortal man, and that all his doctrine ought to be received with such authority and reverence as if God visibly appeared from heaven, yet still there is in this epistle a special object to be kept in view, that Paul, being in prison and perceiving his death to be at hand, wished to ratify his faith, as if he had sealed it with his blood. So then, as often as we read this epistle, let the condition in which Paul was at that time come before our eyes, namely, that he was looking for nothing but to die for the testimony of the gospel (which he actually did) as its standard-bearer, in order to give us stronger assurance of his doctrine, and that will affect us in a more lively manner. Indeed, if we read this epistle carefully, we shall find that the Spirit of God has expressed himself in it in such a manner, with such majesty and power, that we are constrained to be captivated and overwhelmed. For my own part, I know that this epistle has been more profitable to me than any other book of Scripture, and still is profitable to me every day; and if any person shall examine it carefully, there can be no doubt that he will experience the same effect. And if we desire to have a testimony of the truth of God, which pierces our heart, we may well fix on this epistle; for a man must be in a profound sleep, and remarkably stupid, if God do not work in his soul, when he hears the doctrine that shall be drawn from it.”- Fr. Ser.

(136) “ Oui par acquit.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

2Ti. 1:1. According to the promise.The purport of the promise.

2Ti. 1:2. My dearly beloved son.The translators perhaps thought the simple beloved too cold, and so put in the adverb.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.2Ti. 1:1-2

Apostolic Greeting.

I. Explains the source and purpose of his apostleship.

1. The source. An apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (2Ti. 1:1). Bengel calls this epistle the last testament and swanlike death-song of Paul. To the last he is careful to remind the Church that his commission was not of men, nor was it self-assumed, as in the case of the false teachers he refuted, but that it came direct from God. It originated in the will of God, and that will was his supreme authority and guide. He traces his apostleship to the highest source.

2. The purpose. According to the promise of life in Christ Jesus (2Ti. 1:1). He was appointed an apostle to make known and carry into effect this promise of life. All other aims in life were subsidiary to this. His happiest moments were spent in publishing the gospel of hope for a perishing world; and his best abilities were tasked to the utmost in defending it. This cheerful view of the gospel as the promise of life in Christ Jesus would inspire fortitude in Timothy in the midst of tribulation, and give him courage to undertake the journey to Rome, which would be attended with much peril. The gospel is the only system that promises life and hope to humanity.

II. Expresses affectionate appreciation.To Timothy, my dearly beloved son (2Ti. 1:2). The attachment existing between Paul and Timothy was of no ordinary type. Neither of them would have been the men they were but for this friendship: the one was the complement of the other. Their diversities of age, of abilities, of temperament, and of attainments welded them together in closer sympathy and love. The outburst of affectionateness in this address is the more pathetic in view of the apostles approaching martyrdom.

III. Invokes the bestowal of Divine blessing.Grace, mercy, and peace, from God (2Ti. 1:2). These words, though the usual formula in the apostles greeting, are more than merely formal in their intrinsic meaning and desire. They constitute an intense prayer that the best blessings of heaven may be the rich and conscious dower of the person addressed. The trinity of blessingsGrace, mercy, and peaceinclude the best gifts of the Trinity of Divine Persons.

Lessons.

1. Power to preach is a Divine gift.

2. True love is lavish and sincere in its greetings.

3. The choicest Divine blessings are enjoyed in answer to prayer.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

INTRODUCTION 1:15

SALUTATION 2Ti. 1:1-2

Text 1:1, 2

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thought Questions 1:1, 2

1.

Show how the will of God related to Pauls apostleship.

2.

Who made the promise of life? To whom? When? Why?

3.

In what sense was this life in Christ Jesus?

4.

Show two differences in the salutations of I and II Timothy.

5.

Is beloved child different from genuine child? Explain.

6.

Define each word: (1) grace; (2) mercy; (3) peace.

Paraphrase 1:1, 2

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, on account of publishing the promise of eternal life, which, being made to believers of all nations in the covenant with Abraham, is to be obtained, not by obeying Moses, but Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, my beloved son in the faith: May gracious dispositions, merciful deliverance, and inward peace, be yours, from God the Father of Jews and Gentiles, and from Christ Jesus our common Lord,

Comment 1:1, 2

2Ti. 1:1. Perhaps the opening of this letter sounds a bit formal to our western understanding. Besides the difference in letter style, let us not forget that this epistle was to be read, like the first one, by many in the church at Ephesus, and perhaps in some of the other churches of Asia. This is a personal letter, but it contains inspired, apostolic instruction.

In this salutation, Paul speaks of himself in the following terms: (1) an apostle of Jesus Christ; (2) called to the office by the will of God; (3) called into the office for the purpose of announcing the promise of life in Christ Jesus. He next speaks of Timothy in the following terms: (1) beloved son; (2) he invokes on him the threefold blessings of grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul is in prison, about to be beheaded, and yet he says his calling and work were according to, and directed by, the will of God. Such complete commitment enabled him to rejoice always (Php. 4:4). As to the meaning and use of the term apostle, we refer you to our comment on 1Ti. 1:1.

Jesus came to give life and life more abundantly (Joh. 10:10). Paul felt his responsibility as an apostle was to tell about this Life. Without Christ we are existing, but not living. God promises life to all those who will accept it in His Son who is The Life (Joh. 14:6).

2Ti. 1:2. The greeting here has but little variation from the one found in Pauls first letter. Here Timothy is addressed as beloved child; in the first letter, he is called genuine child. There is a very good reason for this term of endearment: Paul was facing deathas he recalled those with whom he had labored, none were nearer or dearer to him than Timothy. Paul had the same heart-satisfaction as a father with an obedient, faithful son. Paul could not have thought more of Timothy if he had been of his own flesh and blood. Indeed, he was his child in The Faith.

Fact Questions 1:1, 2

1.

Explain how such a formal greeting appears in an informal letter.

2.

Was it the will of God that Paul suffer execution at the hand of Nero? Explain.

3.

What is the life which is in Christ Jesus?

4.

In what sense was Timothy beloved by Paul?

5.

What is mercy, as here used by Paul?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.As in the Epistles to the Corinthians, the Ephesians, and Colossians, he ascribes his apostleship to the sovereign will and election of God. Apart from any merit or work of his own, God chose him for the office. He neither aspired to it nor wished for it. The reference to the Almighty will in this Epistle is singularly in harmony with the spirit of calm resignation which breathes through it. It was that sovereign will which chose him as an Apostle, which guided him all through that eventful life of his, and which brought him to the prison of the Csar, where, face to face with death, he wrote this last letter to his friend and disciple Timothy.

According to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.The Greek word rendered according to should here be translated for the promise of life. This preposition here denotes the object or intention of his appointment as apostle, which was to make known, to publish abroad, the promise of eternal life. Almost the first words of an Epistle, written evidently under the expectation of death, dwell upon the promise of lifethe life which knows no endingthe life in Christ. The central point of all Evangelical preaching was the true, blessed life eternal, that life which, in the person of the Redeemer, was revealed to man, and which, through the Redeemer, is offered to the sinner.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 1

AN APOSTLE’S GLORY AND AN APOSTLE’S PRIVILEGE ( 2Ti 1:1-7 )

1:1-7 This is a letter from Paul, who was made an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and whose apostleship was designed to make known to all men God’s promise of real life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy his own beloved child. Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God, the Father, and from Christ Jesus, our Lord.

I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my forefathers did before me, for all that you are to me, just as in my prayers I never cease to remember you, for, remembering your tears when we parted, I never cease to yearn to see you, that I may be filled with joy. And I thank God that I have received a fresh reminder of that sincere faith which is in you, a faith of the same kind as first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and which, I am convinced, dwells in you too. That is why I send you this reminder to keep at white heat the gift that is in you and which came to you through the laying of my hands upon you; for God did not give us the spirit of craven fear, but of power and love and self-discipline.

When Paul speaks of his own apostleship there are always certain unmistakable notes in his voice. To him it was always certain things.

(a) His apostleship was an honour. He was chosen to it by the will of God. Every Christian must regard himself as a God-chosen man.

(b) His apostleship was a responsibility. God chose him because he wanted to do something with him. He wished to make him the instrument by which the tidings of new life went out to men. No Christian is ever chosen entirely for his own sake, but for what he can do for others. A Christian is a man lost in wonder, love and praise at what God has done for him and aflame with eagerness to tell others what God can do for them.

(c) His apostleship was a privilege. It is most significant to see what Paul conceived it his duty to bring to others–the promise of God, not his threat. To him, Christianity was not the threat of damnation; it was the good news of salvation. It is worth remembering that the greatest evangelist and missionary the world has ever seen was out, not to terrify men by shaking them over the flames of hell, but to move them to astonished submission at the sight of the love of God. The dynamic of his gospel was love, not fear.

As always when he speaks to Timothy, there is a warmth of loving affection in Paul’s voice. “My beloved child,” he calls him. Timothy was his child in the faith. Timothy’s parents had given him physical life; but it was Paul who gave him eternal life. Many a person who never knew physical parenthood has had the joy and privilege of being a father or a mother in the faith; and there is no joy in all the world like that of bringing one soul to Christ.

THE INSPIRING OF TIMOTHY ( 2Ti 1:1-7 continued)

Paul’s object in writing is to inspire and strengthen Timothy for his task in Ephesus. Timothy was young and he had a hard task in battling against the heresies and the infections that were bound to threaten the Church. So, then, in order to keep his courage high and his effort strenuous, Paul reminds Timothy of certain things.

(i) He reminds him of his own confidence in him. There is no greater inspiration than to feel that someone believes in us. An appeal to honour is always more effective than a threat of punishment. The fear of letting down those who love us is a cleansing thing.

(ii) He reminds him of his family tradition. Timothy was walking in a fine heritage, and if he failed, not only would he smirch his own name, but he would lessen the honour of his family name as well. A fine parentage is one of the greatest gifts a man can have. Let him thank God for it and never bring dishonour to it.

(iii) He reminds him of his setting apart to office and of the gift which was conferred upon him. Once a man enters upon the service of any association with a tradition, anything that he does affects not only himself nor has it to be done only in his own strength. There is the strength of a tradition to draw upon and the honour of a tradition to preserve. That is specially true of the Church. He who serves it has its honour in his hands; he who serves it is strengthened by the consciousness of the communion of all the saints.

(iv) He reminds him of the qualities which should characterize the Christian teacher. These, as Paul at that moment saw them, were four.

(a) There was courage. It was not craven fear but courage that Christian service should bring to a man. It always takes courage to be a Christian, and that courage comes from the continual consciousness of the presence of Christ.

(b) There was power. In the true Christian there is the power to cope, the power to shoulder the back-breaking task, the power to stand erect in face of the shattering situation, the power to retain faith in face of the soul-searing sorrow and the wounding disappointment. The Christian is characteristically the man who could pass the breaking-point and not break.

(c) There was love. In Timothy’s case this was love for the brethren, for the congregation of the people of Christ over whom he was set. It is precisely that love which gives the Christian pastor his other qualities. He must love his people so much that he will never find any toil too great to undertake for them or any situation threatening enough to daunt him. No man should ever enter the ministry of the Church unless there is love for Christ’s people within his heart.

(d) There was self-discipline. The word is sophronismos ( G4995) , one of these great Greek untranslatable words. Someone has defined it as “the sanity of saintliness.” Falconer defines it as “control of oneself in face of panic or of passion.” It is Christ alone who can give us that self-mastery which will keep us alike from being swept away and from running away. No man can ever rule others unless he has first mastered himself. Sophronismos ( G4995) is that divinely given self-control which makes a man a great ruler of others because he is first of all the servant of Christ and the master of himself.

A GOSPEL WORTH SUFFERING FOR ( 2Ti 1:8-11 )

1:8-11 So, then, do not be ashamed to bear your witness to our Lord; and do not be ashamed of me his prisoner; but accept with me the suffering which the gospel brings, and do so in the power of God, who saved us, and who called us with a call to consecration, a call which had nothing to do with our own achievements, but which was dependent solely on his purpose, and on the grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus: and all this was planned before the world began, but now it stands full-displayed through the appearance of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and incorruption to light by means of the good news which he brought, good news in the service of which I have been appointed a herald, and an apostle and a teacher.

It is inevitable that loyalty to the gospel will bring trouble. For Timothy, it meant loyalty to a man who was regarded as a criminal, because as Paul wrote he was in prison in Rome. But here Paul sets out the gospel in all its glory, something worth suffering for. Sometimes by implication and sometimes by direct statement he brings out element after element in that glory. Few passages in the New Testament have in them and behind them such a sense of the sheer grandeur of the gospel.

(i) It is the gospel of power. Any suffering which it involves is to be borne in the power of God. To the ancient world the gospel was the power to live. That very age in which Paul was writing was the great age of suicide. The highest-principled of the ancient thinkers were the Stoics; but they had their own way out when life became intolerable. They had a saying: “God gave men life, but God gave men the still greater gift of being able to take their own lives away.” The gospel was, and is, power, power to conquer self, power to master circumstances, power to go on living when life is unlivable, power to be a Christian when being a Christian looks impossible.

(ii) It is the gospel of salvation. God is the God who saves us. The gospel is rescue. It is rescue from sin; it liberates a man from the things which have him in their grip; it enables him to break with the habits which are unbreakable. The gospel is a rescuing force which can make bad men good.

(iii) It is the gospel of consecration. It is not simply rescue from the consequences of past sin; it is a summons to walk the way of holiness. In The Bible in World Evangelism A. M. Chirgwin quotes two amazing instances of the miraculous changing power of Christ.

There was a New York gangster who had recently been in prison for robbery with violence. He was on his way to join his old gang with a view to taking part in another robbery when he picked a man’s pocket in Fifth Avenue. He went into Central Park to see what he had succeeded in stealing and discovered to his disgust that it was a New Testament. Since he had time to spare, he began idly to turn over the pages and to read. Soon he was deep in the book, and he read to such effect that a few hours later he went to his old comrades and broke with them for ever. For that ex-convict the gospel was the call to holiness.

There was a young Arab in Aleppo who had a bitter quarrel with a former friend. He told a Christian evangelist: “I hated him so much that I plotted revenge, even to the point of murder. Then,” he went on, “one day I ran into you and you induced me to buy a copy of St. Matthew. I only bought it to please you. I never intended to read. it. But as I was going to bed that night the book fell out of my pocket, and I picked it up and started to read. When I reached the place where it says: ‘Ye have heard that it hath been said of old time, Thou shalt not kill…. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment,’ I remembered the hatred I was nourishing against my enemy. As I read on my uneasiness grew until I reached the words, ‘Come unto me all ye who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.’ Then I was compelled to cry: ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’ Joy and peace filled my heart and my hatred disappeared. Since then I have been a new man, and my chief delight is to read God’s word.”

It was the gospel which set the ex-convict in New York and the would-be murderer in Aleppo on the road to holiness. It is here that so much of our Church Christianity falls down. It does not change people; and therefore is not real. The man who has known the saving power of the gospel is a changed man, in his business, in his pleasure, in his home, in his character. There should be an essential difference between the Christian and the non-Christian, because the Christian has obeyed the summons to walk the road to holiness.

A GOSPEL WORTH SUFFERING FOR ( 2Ti 1:8-11 continued)

(iv) It is the gospel of grace. It is not something which we achieve, but something which we accept. God did not call us because we are holy; he called us to make us holy. If we had to deserve the love of God, our situation would be helpless and hopeless. The gospel is the free gift of God. He does not love us because we deserve his love; he loves us out of the sheer generosity of his heart.

(v) It is the gospel of God’s eternal purpose. It was planned before time began. We must never think that once God was stern law and that only since the life and death of Jesus, he has been forgiving love. From the beginning of time God’s love has been searching for men, and his grace and forgiveness have been offered to them. Love is the essence of the eternal nature of God.

(vi) It is the gospel of life and immortality. It is Paul’s conviction that Christ Jesus brought life and incorruption to light. The ancient world feared death; or, if it did not fear it, regarded it as extinction. It was the message of Jesus that death was the way to life, and that so far from separating men from God, it brought men into his nearer presence.

(vii) It is the gospel of service. It was this gospel which made Paul a herald, an apostle and a teacher of the faith. It did not leave him comfortably feeling that now his own soul was saved and he did not need to worry any more. It laid on him the inescapable task of wearing himself out in the service of God and of his fellow-men. This gospel laid three necessities on Paul.

(a) It made him a herald. The word is kerux ( G2783) , which has three main lines of meaning, each with something to suggest about our Christian duty. The kerux ( G2783) was the herald who brought the announcement from the king. The kerux ( G2783) was the emissary when two armies were opposed to each other, who brought the terms of or the request for truce and peace. The kerux ( G2783) was the man whom an auctioneer or a merchantman employed to shout his wares and invite people to come and buy. So the Christian is to be the man who brings the message to his fellow-men; the man who brings men into peace with God; the man who calls on his fellow-men to accept the rich offer which God is making to them.

(b) It made him an apostle, apostolos ( G652) , literally one who is sent out. The word can mean an envoy or an ambassador. The apostolos ( G652) did not speak for himself, but for him who sent him. He did not come in his own authority, but in the authority of him who sent him. The Christian is the ambassador of Christ, come to speak for him and to represent him to men.

(c) It made him a teacher. There is a very real sense in which the teaching task of the Christian and of the Church is the most important of all. Certainly the task of the teacher is very much harder than the task of the evangelist. The evangelist’s task is to appeal to men and confront them with the love of God. In a moment of vivid emotion, a man may respond to that summons. But a long road remains. He must learn the meaning and discipline of the Christian life. The foundations have been laid but the edifice has still to be raised. The flame of evangelism has to be followed by the steady glow of Christian teaching. It may well be that people drift away from the Church, after their first decision, for the simple, yet fundamental, reason that they have not been taught into the meaning of the Christian faith.

Herald, ambassador, teacher–here is the threefold function of the Christian who would serve his Lord and his Church.

(viii) It is the gospel of Christ Jesus. It was full displayed through his appearance. The word Paul uses for appearance is one with a great history. It is epiphaneia ( G2015) , a word which the Jews repeatedly used of the great saving manifestations of God in the terrible days of the Maccabean struggles, when the enemies of Israel were deliberately seeking to obliterate him.

In the days of Onias the High Priest there came a certain Heliodorus to plunder the Temple treasury at Jerusalem. Neither prayers nor entreaties would stop him carrying out this sacrilege. And, so the story runs, as Heliodorus was about to set hands on the treasury, “the Lord of Spirits and the Prince of Power caused a great epiphaneia ( G2015) …. For there appeared unto them an horse with a terrible rider upon him… and he ran fiercely and smote at Heliodorus with his forefeet…. And Heliodorus fell suddenly to the ground and was compassed with great darkness” ( 2Ma_3:24-30 ). What exactly happened we may never know; but in Israel’s hour of need there came this tremendous epiphaneia ( G2015) of God. When Judas Maccabaeus and his little army were confronted with the might of Nicanor, they prayed: “O Lord, who didst send thine angel in the time of Hezekiah king of Judea, and didst slay in the host of Sennacherib an hundred fourscore and five thousand (compare 2Ki 19:35-36), wherefore now also, O Lord of Heaven, send a good angel before us for a fear and a dread unto them; and through the might of thine arm let those be stricken with terror, that come against thy holy people to blaspheme.” And then the story goes on: “Then Nicanor and they that were with him came forward with trumpets and with songs. But Judas and his company encountered the enemy with invocation and prayer. So that, fighting with their hands and praying unto God with their hearts, they slew no less than thirty and five thousand men; for through the epiphaneia ( G2015) of God they were greatly cheered” ( 2Ma_15:22-27 ). Once again we do not know exactly what happened; but God made a great and saving appearance for his people. To the Jew epiphaneia ( G2015) denoted a rescuing intervention of God.

To the Greek this was an equally great word. The accession of the Emperor to his throne was called his epiphaneia ( G2015) . It was his manifestation. Every Emperor came to the throne with high hopes; his coming was hailed as the dawn of a new and precious day, and of great blessings to come.

The gospel was full displayed with the epiphaneia ( G2015) of Jesus; the very word shows that he was God’s great, rescuing intervention and manifestation into the world.

TRUST, HUMAN AND DIVINE ( 2Ti 1:12-14 )

1:12-14 And that is the reason why I am going through these things I am going through. But I am not ashamed, for I know him in whom my belief is fixed, and I am quite certain that he is able to keep safe what I have entrusted to him until the last day comes. Hold fast the pattern of health-giving words you have received from me, never slackening in that faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard the fine trust that has been given to you through the Holy Spirit who dwells in you.

This passage uses a very vivid Greek word in a most suggestive double way. Paul talks of that which he has entrusted to God; and he urges Timothy to safeguard the trust God has reposed in him. In both cases the word is paratheke ( G3866) , which means a deposit committed to someone’s trust. A man might deposit something with a friend to be kept for his children or his loved ones; he might deposit his valuables in a temple for safe keeping, for the temples were the banks of the ancient world. In each case the thing deposited was a paratheke ( G3866) . In the ancient world there was no more sacred duty than the safe-guarding of such a deposit and the returning of it when in due time it was claimed.

There was a famous Greek story which told just how sacred such a trust was (Herodotus 6: 89; Juvenal: Satires, 13: 199-208). The Spartans were famous for their strict honour and honesty. A certain man of Miletus came to a certain Glaucus of Sparta. He said that he had heard such great reports of the honesty of the Spartans that he had turned half his possessions into money and wished to deposit that money with Glaucus, until he or his heirs should claim it again. Certain symbols were given and received which would identify the rightful claimant when he should make his claim. The years passed on; the man of Miletus died; his sons came to Sparta to see Glaucus, produced the identifying tallies and asked for the return of the deposited money. But Glaucus claimed that he had no memory of ever receiving it. The sons from Miletus went sorrowfully away; but Glaucus went to the famous oracle at Delphi to see whether he should admit the trust or, as Greek law entitled him to do, should swear that he knew nothing about it. The oracle answered:

“Best for the present it were, O Glaucus, to do as thou

wishest,

Swearing an oath to prevail, and so to make prize of the

money.

Swear then–death is the lot even of those who never swear

falsely.

Yet hath the Oath-god a son who is nameless, footless and

handless;

Mighty in strength he approaches to vengeance, and whelms in

destruction

All who belong to the race, or the house of the man who is

perjured.

But oath-keeping men leave behind them a flourishing offspring.”

Glaucus understood; the oracle was telling him that if he wished for momentary profit, he should deny the trust, but such a denial would inevitably bring eternal loss. He besought the oracle to pardon his question; but the answer was that to have tempted the god was as bad as to have done the deed. He sent for the sons of the man of Miletus and restored the money. Herodotus goes on: “Glaucus at this present time has not a single descendant; nor is there any family known as his; root and branch has he been removed from Sparta. It is a good thing therefore, when a pledge has been left with one, not even in thought to doubt about restoring it.” To the Greeks a paratheke ( G3866) was completely sacred.

Paul says that he has made his deposit with God. He means that he has entrusted both his work and his life to him. It might seem that he had been cut off in mid-career; that he should end as a criminal in a Roman jail might seem the undoing of all his work. But he had sowed his seed and preached his gospel, and the result he left in the hands of God. Paul had entrusted his life to God; and he was sure that in life and in death he was safe. Why was he so sure? Because he knew whom he had believed in. We must always remember that Paul does not say that he knew what he had believed. His certainty did not come from the intellectual knowledge of a creed or a theology; it came from a personal knowledge of God. He knew God personally and intimately; he knew what he was like in love and in power; and to Paul it was inconceivable that he should fail him. If we have worked honestly and done the best that we can, we can leave the result to God, however meager that work may seem to us. With him in this or any other world life is safe, for nothing can separate us from his love in Christ Jesus our Lord.

TRUST HUMAN AND DIVINE ( 2Ti 1:12-14 continued)

But there is another side to this matter of trust; there is another paratheke ( G3866) . Paul urges Timothy to safeguard and keep inviolate the trust God has reposed in him. Not only do we put our trust in God; he also puts his trust in us. The idea of God’s dependence on men is never far from New Testament thought. When God wants something done, he has to find a man to do it. If he wants a child taught, a message brought, a sermon preached, a wanderer found, a sorrowing one comforted, a sick one healed, he has to find some instrument to do his work.

The trust that God had particularly reposed in Timothy was the oversight and the edification of the Church. If Timothy was truly to discharge that trust, he had to do certain things.

(i) He had to hold fast to the pattern of health-giving words. That is to say, he had to see to it that Christian belief was maintained in all its purity and that false and misleading ideas were not allowed to enter in. That is not to say that in the Christian Church there must be no new thought and no development in doctrine and belief; but it does mean to say that there are certain great Christian verities which must always be preserved intact. And it may well be that the one Christian truth which must for ever stand is summed up in the creed of the early Church, “Jesus Christ is Lord” ( Php_2:11 ). Any theology which seeks to remove Christ from the topmost niche or take from him his unique place in the scheme of revelation and salvation is necessarily wrong. The Christian Church must ever be restating its faith–but the faith restated must be faith in Christ.

(ii) He must never slacken in faith. Faith here has two ideas at its heart. (a) It has the idea of fidelity. The Christian leader must be for ever true and loyal to Jesus Christ. He must never be ashamed to show whose he is and whom he serves. Fidelity is the oldest and the most essential virtue in the world. (b) But faith also has in it the idea of hope. The Christian must never lose his confidence in God; he must never despair. As A. H. Clough wrote:

“Say not, ‘The struggle naught availeth;

The labour and the wounds are vain;

The enemy faints not, nor faileth,

And as things have been they remain.’

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,

Seem here no painful inch to gain,

Far back, through creeks and inlets making,

Comes silent, flooding in, the main.”

There must be no pessimism, either for himself or for the world, in the heart of the Christian.

(iii) He must never slacken in love. To love men is to see them as God sees them. It is to refuse ever to do anything but seek their highest good. It is to meet bitterness with forgiveness; it is to meet hatred with love; it is to meet indifference with a flaming passion which cannot be quenched. Christian love insistently seeks to love men as God loves them and as he has first loved us.

THE FAITHLESS MANY AND THE FAITHFUL ONE ( 2Ti 1:15-18 )

1:15-18 You know this, that as a whole the people who live in Asia deserted me, and among the deserters are Phygelus and Hermogenes. May the Lord give mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. So far from that, when he arrived in Rome he eagerly sought me out and found me–may the Lord grant to him mercy from the Lord on that day–and you know better than I do the many services he rendered in Ephesus.

Here is a passage in which pathos and joy are combined. In the end the same thing happened to Paul as happened to Jesus, his Master. His friends forsook him and fled. In the New Testament Asia is not the continent of Asia, but the Roman province which consisted of the western part of Asia Minor. Its capital was the city of Ephesus. When Paul was imprisoned his friends abandoned him–most likely out of fear. The Romans would never have proceeded against him on a purely religious charge; the Jews must have persuaded them that he was a dangerous troublemaker and disturber of the public peace. There can be no doubt that in the end Paul would be held on a political charge. To be a friend of a man like that was dangerous; and in his hour of need his friends from Asia abandoned him because they were afraid for their own safety.

But however others might desert, one man was loyal to the end. His name was Onesiphorus, which means profitable. P. N. Harrison draws a vivid picture of Onesiphorus’ search for Paul in Rome: “We seem to catch glimpses of one purposeful face in a drifting crowd, and follow with quickening interest this stranger from the far coasts of the Aegean, as he threads the maze of unfamiliar streets, knocking at many doors, following up every clue, warned of the risks he is taking but not to be turned from his quest; till in some obscure prison-house a known voice greets him, and he discovers Paul chained to a Roman soldier. Having once found his way Onesiphorus is not content with a single visit, but, true to his name, proves unwearied in his ministrations. Others have flinched from the menace and ignominy of that chain; but this visitor counts it the supreme privilege of his life to share with such a criminal the reproach of the Cross. One series of turnings in the vast labyrinth (of the streets of Rome) he comes to know as if it were his own Ephesus.” There is no doubt that, when Onesiphorus sought out Paul and came to see him again and again, he took his life in his hands. It was dangerous to keep asking where a certain criminal could be found; it was dangerous to visit him; it was still more dangerous to keep on visiting him; but that is what Onesiphorus did.

Again and again the Bible bangs us face to face with a question which is real for every one of us. Again and again it introduces and dismisses a man from the stage of history with a single sentence. Hermogenes and Phygelus–we know nothing whatever of them beyond their names and the fact that they were traitors to Paul. Onesiphorus–we know nothing of him except that in his loyalty to Paul he risked–and perhaps lost–his life. Hermogenes and Phygelus go down to history branded as deserters; Onesiphorus goes down to history as the friend who stuck closer than a brother. If we were to be described in one sentence, what would it be? Would it be the verdict on a traitor, or the verdict on a disciple who was true?

Before we leave this passage we must note that in one particular connection it is a storm centre. Each one must form his own opinion, but there are many who feel that the implication is that Onesiphorus is dead. It is for his family that Paul first prays. Now if he was dead, this passage shows us Paul praying for the dead, for it shows him praying that Onesiphorus may find mercy on the last day.

Prayers for the dead are a much-disputed problem which we do not intend to discuss here. But one thing we can say–to the Jews prayers for the dead were by no means unknown. In the days of the Maccabean wars there was a battle between the troops of Judas Maccabaeus and the army of Gorgias, the governor of Idumaea, which ended in a victory for Judas Maccabaeus. After the battle the Jews were gathering the bodies of those who had fallen in battle. On each one of them they found “things consecrated to the idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the Jews by the law.” What is meant is that the dead Jewish soldiers were wearing heathen amulets in a superstitious attempt to protect their lives. The story goes on to say that every man who had been slain was wearing such an amulet and it was because of this that he was in fact slain. Seeing this, Judas and all the people prayed that the sin of these men “might be wholly put out of remembrance.” Judas then collected money and made a sin-offering for those who had fallen, because they believed that, since there was a resurrection, it was not superfluous “to pray and offer sacrifices for the dead.” The story ends with the saying of Judas Maccabaeus that “it was an holy and good thing to pray for the dead. Whereupon he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin” ( 2Ma_12:39-45 ).

It is clear that Paul was brought up in a way of belief which saw in prayers for the dead, not a hateful, but a lovely thing. This is a subject on which there has been long and bitter dispute; but this one thing we can and must say–if we love a person with all our hearts, and if the remembrance of that person is never absent from our minds and memories, then, whatever the intellect of the theologian may say about it, the instinct of the heart is to remember such a one in prayer, whether he is in this or in any other world.

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

1. Paul Note, 1Ti 1:1.

According to the promise The word rendered promise signifies announcement; and hence Paul styles himself an apostle according to, or for the purpose of, the announcement of the life in Christ. Yet in the New Testament this announcement, being of a blessed result, becomes in effect a promise.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Introduction ( 2Ti 1:1-2 ).

‘Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,’

With his coming death in mind Paul open his letter with a declaration of bold defiance against the forces of death and darkness that are around him. For he first boldly states that he is an Apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and then declares that that is in terms of ‘the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus’. Death may be facing him, but it will only be as the gateway to life. Beyond death, for him and for all who truly belong to Christ, lies the promised life of the ages to come, the ‘life which is in Christ Jesus’.

So as he regularly did Paul reminds Timothy, and all who read or hear his words at this time of emergency, that he is an Apostle, one of those especially ‘sent forth’ from God, an ambassador of Jesus Christ, and that in His case at least it is by the will of God. For as he had said elsewhere, ‘He — had set me apart before I was born, and had called my by His grace, (and) was pleased to reveal His Son in me’ (Gal 1:15-16). He had no doubt that God had chosen him, and that what he was now facing was within the will of God. As he was facing probable death nothing gave him more comfort than the fact that His life was safe in God’s eternal will (compare Rom 9:19; 1Co 1:1; 2Co 1:1; Gal 1:4; Eph 1:1; Eph 1:5; Eph 1:9; Eph 1:11; Col 1:1; 1Pe 4:19; Jas 1:18). But why should Paul inform Timothy of what he knew only too well? The answer is simple. It was precisely because Timothy may have become too used to the idea that he needed to be reminded of it. He needed to recognise that it was not just his beloved and revered Paul who was speaking. It was one of the Apostles of Christ appointed by the will of God.

In the face of the threat of death Paul also wanted him to call to mind again that as an Apostle appointed by the will of God, he had come to offer the life that was in Christ Jesus. For his appointment as an Apostle in the will of God was ‘in accordance with the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus’. Rome might put him to death, but for him there would be a resurrection, for he would then enter into the fullness of life in Christ. It was a reminder, in the words of James, that ‘of His own will He begets us by the word of truth’ (Jas 1:18), so that we have eternal life within us (Joh 5:24) and the promise of it for the future (Joh 5:28-29). This reference to life takes us back to the promises of life in 1Ti 4:8; 1Ti 6:12; 1Ti 6:19, and there it is made clear that the promise had to be laid hold of. But here, in contrast, the life will lay hold of him. And that is what Paul’s message is all about. His message is one of life from God, both now and in the future (1Ti 4:8), and that a life which is found ‘in Christ Jesus’. It is as one who has been made one with Christ that he has this life (Rom 6:3-5; Gal 2:20). ‘He who has the Son has life, while he who has not the Son of God, does not have life’ (1Jn 5:11-13, compare Joh 5:24; Joh 20:31; Gal 2:20). He is thus already basking in that promised life, and looks forward to enjoying it even more fully with God.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Salutation 2Ti 1:1-2 is called the salutation and is found in all thirteen of Paul’s New Testament epistles and is used to open his letters. Paul wrote his salutations as a signature of authenticity (2Th 3:17) just like we place our signature today at the end of a document. He may have personally handwritten entire epistles as indicated in Gal 6:11 and Phm 1:19. However, there are indications in six of his epistles that Paul used an amanuensis to write most of his letters (see Rom 16:22, 1Co 16:21, Gal 6:11, Col 4:18, 2Th 3:17, Phm 1:19).

Rom 16:22, “I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.”

1Co 16:21, “The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand.”

Gal 6:11, “Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand.”

Col 4:18, “The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.”

2Th 3:17, “The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write.”

Phm 1:19, “I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it: albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.”

In 2Ti 1:1-2 Paul the apostle gives Timothy a warm and tender greeting that briefly reflects upon his own divine calling and future hope for being faithful to this calling.

2Ti 1:1  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

2Ti 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ” – Comments – To those churches and individuals in which Paul displayed his apostleship over them in order to give correction and doctrine, he introduces himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ” ( Rom 1:1 , 1Co 1:1, 2Co 1:1, Gal 1:1, Eph 1:1, Col 1:1, 1Ti 1:1, 2Ti 1:1 and Tit 1:1). To the Philippians Paul describes himself as a “servant”. This is because within the context of this epistle Paul will give examples of himself (2Ti 1:12-18), of Jesus Christ (2Ti 2:1-11), of Timothy (2Ti 2:19-24) and of Epaphroditus (2Ti 2:25-26) as servants who laid aside their own wills and in order that to fulfill the will of those in authority over them. For this is the message and theme of Paul’s epistle to the Philippians. To Philemon Paul declares himself as a “prisoner of Jesus Christ,” because his message to Philemon was about a slave, or prisoner, who was serving Philemon. In his two letters to the church of Thessalonica Paul defers the use of a title in order to equate himself as co-workers with Silas and Timothy. He will refer to his apostleship in 1Th 2:6, but he will be mindful to use it in the plural form as a co-worker with Silas and Timothy. This is because he emphasizes their need to labour together until Jesus returns.

2Ti 1:1 “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus” Comments – That is, in this Epistle Paul is looking at his divine calling from the view of its fulfillment of eternal life in Heaven. Paul the elder is about to be martyred; thus, the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus was more on his mind at this time than in any other period in his life. This theme is woven throughout the epistle. Paul opens this epistle with a reference to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the Gospel of Life. Paul will refer to his message as the Gospel of eternal life again in 2Ti 1:10.

2Ti 1:10, “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel :”

Paul has been preaching the revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ since his conversion over thirty years ago. He has proclaimed it as the Gospel of Salvation to the church at Rome (Rom 1:16). To the Corinthians it was the Gospel of the power and wisdom of God (1Co 1:25). For the Galatian churches it was proclaimed as the Gospel of Liberty (Gal 5:1). It was a Gospel that revealed the mystery hidden from the ages to the Ephesian church (Eph 6:19). Paul told the Philippians that it was the Gospel of partnership and divine provision (Php 1:5; Php 4:15-19).

When Paul looks at the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the eyes of one who is about to face physical death, it becomes a Gospel of Eternal Life in Christ Jesus. For he knows and is fully persuaded (2Ti 1:12) that this same Gospel that saved him (Romans) and set him free from this world’s corruption (Galatians) and that wrought both wisdom and miracles (1 and 2 Corinthians) and that showed him God’s will and plan for his life and for the Church as the hidden mystery revealed (Ephesians) and that provided for him throughout his entire ministry (Philippians) is the same Gospel that will usher him into the presence of God.

2Ti 1:2  To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2Ti 1:2 “To Timothy, my dearly beloved son” – Comments – Any pastor knows the loyalty of a “son in the faith” (1Ti 1:2) referring to a person who was brought into the kingdom of God under his ministry and raised up in that ministry. This bond is stronger than that of a hired associate pastor or church member who has joined the church after their conversion experience. The bond between Paul and Timothy was stronger than that of Paul and Barnabas or Paul and Silas or even Paul and Luke; for Timothy was brought into the kingdom of God directly under Paul or under Paul’s ministry. Both had several things in common. Both had Gentile fathers and Jewish mothers. Both traveled together and suffered for the kingdom of God. For these reasons, there was no one that bonded closer to Paul during his life and ministry than did Timothy.

Paul calls him “my own son in the faith” (1Ti 1:2), and “ my dearly beloved son” (1Co 4:17, 2Ti 1:2). Paul also tells the Corinthians that he is “faithful in the Lord” and able to bring them into remembrance of his ways (1Co 4:17); for few people understood Paul as did Timothy, who laboured beside him for years. Paul tells the Philippians a few years later that as a son with a father Timothy had served with Paul in the Gospel (Php 2:22). It was in the closing days of his life that Paul summoned Timothy by his side to share his most intimate needs (2 Tim).

1Co 4:17, “For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.”

Php 2:22, “But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”

Timothy’s role as Paul’s son in the faith places him under spiritual authority and in subjection to the charges that Paul is about to give him. Thus, Paul addresses him in this manner, so that his charge will be spoken in love to this young minister, but with a tone of seriousness. The phrase “my own son in the faith” (1Ti 1:2) may also reveal Paul’s intent to hand over the reins of his ministry to Timothy upon his death.

2Ti 1:2 “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” Comments (The Pauline Greeting) – Scholars discuss the meaning of Paul’s epistolary greetings from two different angles, either an historical approach or a theological approach.

(1) The Historical Approach The historical approach evaluates the history behind the use of the words “grace” and “peace” in traditional greetings, with this duet of words limited in antiquity to New Testament literature. J. Vernon McGee says the word “grace” in Paul’s greetings was a formal greeting used in Greek letters of his day, while the word “peace” was the customary Jewish greeting. [2] More specifically, John Grassmick says the Greek word was a common greeting in classical Greek epistles (note this use in Act 15:23; Act 23:26, Jas 1:1), so that was a “word play” Paul used in conjunction with the Hebrew greeting “peace.” [3] Thus, Paul would be respectfully addressing both Greeks and Jews in the early Church. However, Paul uses these same two words in his epistles to Timothy, Titus and Philemon, which weakens the idea that Paul intended to make such a distinction between two ethnic groups when using “grace” and “peace.” Perhaps this greeting became customary for Paul and lost its distinctive elements.

[2] J. Vernon McGee, The Epistle to the Romans, in Thru the Bible With J. Vernon McGee (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1998), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), comments on Romans 1:1.

[3] John D. Grassmick, “Epistolary Genre,” in Interpreting the New Testament Text, eds. Darrell L. Bock and Buist M. Fanning (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2006), 232.

(2) The Theological Approach – Another view is proposed by James Denny, who explains the relationship of these two words as a cause and effect. He says that grace is God’s unmerited favor upon mankind, and the peace is the result of receiving His grace and forgiveness of sins. [4] In a similar statement, Charles Simeon says the phrase “‘grace and peace’ comprehended all the blessings of the Gospel.” [5]

[4] James Denney, The Epistles to the Thessalonians, in The Expositor’s Bible, eds. William R. Nicoll and Oscar L. Joseph (New York: Hodder and Stoughton, n.d.), 15-16.

[5] Charles Simeon, 2 Peter, in Horae Homileticae, vol. 20: James to Jude (London: Holdsworth and Ball, 1833), 285.

Comments (The Pauline Blessing) – In a similar way that the early apostles were instructed by Jesus to let their peace come upon the home of their host (Mat 10:13), so did Paul the apostle open every one of his thirteen New Testament epistles with a blessing of God’s peace and grace upon his readers. Mat 10:13 shows that you can bless a house by speaking God’s peace upon it.

Mat 10:13, “And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.”

This practice of speaking blessings upon God’s children may have its roots in the Priestly blessing of Num 6:22-27, where God instructed Moses to have the priests speak a blessing upon the children of Israel. We see in Rth 2:4 that this blessing became a part of the Jewish culture when greeting people. Boaz blessed his workers in the field and his reapers replied with a blessing.

Rth 2:4, “And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.”

We also see this practiced by the king in 2Sa 15:20 where David says, “mercy and truth be with thee”.

2Sa 15:20, “Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee.”

This word of blessing was a part of the Hebrew and Jewish culture. This provides us the background as to why Paul was speaking a blessing upon Timothy, especially that God would grant him more of His grace and abiding peace that he would have otherwise not known. In faith, we too, can receive this same blessing into our lives. Paul actually pronounces and invokes a blessing of divine grace and peace upon his readers with these words, “Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” I do not believe this blessing is unconditional, but rather conditional. In other words, it is based upon the response of his hearers. The more they obey these divine truths laid forth in this epistle, the more God’s grace and peace is multiplied in their lives. We recall how the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, with six tribes standing upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people and six tribes upon Mount Ebal to curse the disobedient (Deu 27:11-26). Thus, the blessings and curses of Deu 28:1-68 were placed upon the land. All who obeyed the Law received these blessings, and all who disobeyed received this list of curses. In the same way Paul invokes a blessing into the body of Christ for all who will hearken unto the divine truths of this epistle. We see this obligation of the recipients in the translation by Beck of 2Pe 1:2, “As you know God and our Lord Jesus, may you enjoy more and more of His love and peace. ”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

v. 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

v. 2. to Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord.

It is a solemn address with which the apostle opens his letter: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the proclamation of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved son. As in the first letter, so Paul here calls himself an apostle of Christ Jesus, purposely placing the stress on the office of Christ, through which the apostolic office is effective. Paul belonged to those first teachers of the New Testament Church that had been enlightened and equipped with an unusual measure of gifts for the work of founding this Church in all the world. The election of Paul to this office had not taken place on the basis of his own choice and desire, but by the will of God, who had chosen him and given his entire life a different direction through his conversion and subsequent call. He therefore held this office and performed its work not for any reasons of self-aggrandizement, but for the purpose of proclaiming, of announcing the true life in Christ Jesus, the life which follows and is dependent upon the preaching of the Word of Grace. The life which God intended for men from eternity, the life which was brought down upon the earth by the only-begotten Son of God, Joh 1:4; 1Jn 1:2, the life which we shall enjoy in its richest measure in eternity, Col 3:3-4; Gal 6:8; Rom 5:17, that is the life which is proclaimed in the Word, that is the content of all apostolic preaching. It is the life in Christ Jesus, for without Him there can be no true life. Having thus characterized his office and given a summary of his preaching, Paul addresses Timothy as his beloved son, with whom he was united in the bonds of a most cordial and fatherly love, 1Co 4:17; Php_2:20-22

The greeting of the apostle is identical with that of the first letter: Grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Lord. He that has received the reconciliation, the grace of God by faith, will also receive the assurance of the merciful love of God in Christ with full confidence, being fully convinced that the peace of God which passes all understanding is the sure gift of God to all that believe. Having been justified by faith, having become partakers of the grace and mercy of God, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Rom 5:1.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

2Ti 1:1

Christ Jesus for Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R.; the life for life, A.V. The life is a little clearer than life, as showing that “life” (not “promise”) is the antecedent to “which.” According to the promise denotes the subject matter with which, as an apostle, he had to deal, viz. the promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus, and the end for which he was called, viz. to preach that promise (comp. Tit 1:2).

2Ti 1:2

Beloved child for dearly beloved son, A.V.; peace for and peace, A.V. My beloved child. In 1Ti 1:2 (as in Tit 1:4) it is “my true child,” or “my own son,” A.V. The idea broached by some commentators, that this variation in expression marks some change in St. Paul’s confidence in Timothy, seems utterly unfounded. The exhortations to boldness and courage which follow were the natural results of the danger in which St. Paul’s own life was, and the depression of spirits caused by the desertion of many friends (2Ti 4:10-16). St. Paul, too, knew that the time was close at hand when Timothy, still young, would no longer have him to lean upon and look up to, and therefore would prepare him for it; and possibly he may have seen some symptoms of weakness in Timothy’s character, which made him anxious, as appears, indeed, in the course of this Epistle. Grace, etc. (so 1Ti 1:2; Tit 1:4, A.V.; 2Jn 1:3). Jude has “mercy, peace, and love.” The salutation in Eph 1:2 is “grace and peace,” as also in Rom 1:7; 1Co 1:3, and elsewhere in St. Paul’s Epistles, and in Rev 1:4.

2Ti 1:3

In a pure for with pure, A.V.; how unceasing for that without ceasing, A.V.; is my remembrance for I have remembrance, A.V.; supplications for prayers, A.V. For whom I serve from my fathers in a pure conscience, comp. Act 23:1. How unceasing, etc. The construction of the sentence which follows is difficult and ambiguous. For what does the apostle give thanks to God? The answer to this question will give the clue to the explanation. The only thing mentioned in the context which seer, s a proper subject of thanksgiving is that which is named in Act 23:5, viz. the “unfeigned faith” that was in Timothy. That this was a proper subject of thanksgiving we learn from Eph 1:15, where St. Paul writes that, having heard of their faith in the Lord Jesus, he ceased not to give thanks for then-J, making mention of them in his prayers (see, too, 1Th 1:2). Assuming, then, that this was the subject of his thanksgiving, we notice especially the reading of the R.T., , “having received,” and the note of Bengel that means to be reminded of any one by another, as distinguished from , which is used when any one comes to your recollection without external prompting; both which fall in with our previous conclusion. And we get for the main sentence the satisfactory meaning: “I give thanks to God that I have received (or, because I have received) a most pleasant reminder (from some letter or visitor to which he does not further allude) of your unfeigned faith,” etc, The main sentence clearly is: “I thank God… having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in thee.” The intermediate words are, in Paul’s manner, parenthetical and explanatory. Being about to say that it was at some special remembrance of Timothy’s faith that he gave thanks, the thought arose in his mind that there was a continual remembrance of him day and night in his prayers; that he was ever thinking of him, longing to see him, and to have the tears shed at their parting turned into joy at their meeting again. And so he interposes this thought, and prefaces it with not surely, “how,” as in the R.V., but in the sense of , “as,” “just as.” And so the whole passage comes out: “Just as I have an unceasing remembrance of you in my prayers, day and night, longing to see you, that the tears which I remember you shed at our parting may be turned into joy, so do I give special thanks to God on the remembrance of your faith.”

2Ti 1:4

Longing for greatly desiring, A.V.; remembering for being mindful of, A.V.

2Ti 1:5

Having been reminded of for when I call to remembrance, A.V.; in thee for that in thee, A.V. Unfeigned (); as 1Ti 1:5 (see also Rom 12:9; 2Co 6:6; 1Pe 1:22; Jas 3:17). Having been reminded, etc. (see preceding note). Thy grandmother Lois. properly corresponds exactly to our word “mamma.” In 4 Macc. 16:9, , “I shall never be called a happy grandmother,” and here (the only place where it is found in the New Testament) it has the sense of “grandmother.” It is hardly a real word, and has no place in Stephens’ ‘Thes.,’ except incidentally by comparison with . It has, however, a classical usage. The proper word for a “grandmother” is . Lois; a name not found elsewhere, possibly meaning “good,” or “excellent,” from the same root as and . This and the following Eunice are examples of the frequent use of Greek or Latin names by Jews. Eunice, we know from Act 16:1, was a Jewess and a Christian, as it would seem her mother Lois was before her.

2Ti 1:6

For the which cause for wherefore, A.V.; through the laying for by the putting, A.V. For which cause ( ); so 2Ti 1:12 and Tit 1:13, but nowhere else in St. Paul’s Epistles, though common elsewhere. The clause seems to depend upon the words immediately preceding, “I am persuaded in thee also; for which cause,” etc. Stir up (); here only in the New Testament, but found in the LXX. of Gen 45:27 and I Ma Gen 13:7, in an intransitive sense, “to revive.” In both passages it is contrasted with a previous state of despondency (Gen 45:26) or fear (1Ma Gen 13:2). We must, therefore, conclude that St. Paul knew Timothy to be cast down and depressed by his own imprisonment and imminent danger, and therefore exhorted him to revive ‘the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,” which was given him at his ordination. The metaphor is taken from kindling slumbering ashes into a flame by the bellows, and the force of is to show that the embers had gone down from a previous state of candescence or frame”to rekindle, light up again.” It is a favourite metaphor in classical Greek. The gift of God ( ); as 1Ti 4:14 (where see note). The laying on of my hands, together with those of the presbytery (1Ti 4:14; comp. Act 13:2, Act 13:3). The laying on of hands was also the medium through which the Holy Ghost was given in Confirmation (Act 8:17), and in healing (Mar 16:18; comp. Num 27:18, Num 27:23).

2Ti 1:7

Gave us not for hath not given us, A.V.; a spirit of fearfulness for the spirit of fear, A.V.; and for of, A.V.; discipline for of a sound mind, A.V. A spirit of fearfulness; or, cowardice, as the word exactly means in classical Greek, where it is very common, though it only occurs here in the New Testament. also has a reproachful sense, both in classical Greek, and also in the LXX., and in the New Testament. It seems certain, therefore, that St. Paul thought that Timothy’s gentle spirit was in danger of being cowed by the adversaries of the gospel. The whole tenor of his exhortation, combined as it was with words of warm affection, is in harmony with this thought. Compare with the phrase, , the of Rom 8:15. Of power and love. Power () is emphatically the attribute of the Holy Spirit (Luk 4:14; Act 10:38; Rom 15:13; 1Co 2:4, etc.), and that which he specially imparts to the servants of Christ (Act 1:8; Act 6:8; Eph 3:16, etc.). Love is added, as showing that the servant of Christ always uses power in conjunction with love, and only as the means of executing what love requires. Discipline (); only here in the New Testament; is found in Tit 2:4, “to teach,” A.V.; “to train,” R.V. “Discipline” is not a very happy rendering, though it gives the meaning; “correction,” or “sound instruction,” is perhaps nearer. It would seem that Timothy had shown some signs of weakness, and had not boldly reproved and instructed in their duty certain offenders, as true love for souls required him to do. The phrase from Plutarch’s ‘Life of Cato,’ quoted by Alford, exactly gives the force of : , “For the amendment and correction of the rest.”

2Ti 1:8

Be not ashamed therefore for be not thou therefore ashamed, A.V.; suffer hardship with the gospel for be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, A.V. Be not ashamed, etc. The exhortation based upon the previous statement. The spirit of power and love must show itself in a brave, unflinching acceptance of all the hardships and afflictions incident to a faithful execution of his episcopal office (comp. Rom 1:16). Suffer hardship with the gospel. This, of course, is a possible rendering, but an unnatural one, and not at all in harmony with the context. The force of in (only found here in the New Testament and in the R.T. of 2Ti 2:3) is manifestly to associate Timothy with St. Paul in the afflictions of the gospel. “Be a fellow partaker with me of the afflictions,” which is in obvious contrast with being ashamed of the testimony of the Lord and of the apostle his prisoner. The gospel ( ); i.e. for the gospel, as Php 1:27, “striving for the faith of the gospel” ( ), and as Chrysostom explains it: (Huther). According to the power of God; either “according to that spirit of power which God gave you at your ordination,” or “according to the mighty power of God manifested in our salvation and in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The latter seems to be what St. Paul had in his mind. Timothy ought to feel that this power was on his side.

2Ti 1:9

Saved for hath saved, A.V.; a for an, A.V.; times eternal for the world began, A.V. Who saved us, and called us. The saving was in the gift of his only begotten Son to be our Saviour; the calling is the work of the Holy Spirit drawing individual souls to Christ to be saved by him. (For the power of God displayed in man’s salvation, comp. Eph 1:19, Eph 1:20.) With a holy calling (comp. Rom 1:7; 1Co 1:2). Not according to our works (see Tit 3:5; Eph 2:4-10). His own purpose and grace. If our calling were of works, it would not be by grace (Rom 4:4, Rom 4:5; Rom 11:6), but it is “according to the riches of his grace according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself” (Eph 1:9, Eph 1:11). Before times eternal ( ). The phrase seems to have the same general meaning as , “before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4), where the general context is the same. The phrase itself occurs in Rom 16:25 ( ) and Tit 1:2, in which last place time is indicated posterior to the creation of men. In 1Co 2:7 we have simply , “before the worlds,” where is equivalent to , and in Eph 3:11, , “the eternal purpose.” In Luk 1:70 the phrase, , is rendered “since the world began,” and (Mat 6:13), “forever.” So frequently , “forever” (Mat 21:19; Joh 6:51, etc.), and (Gal 1:5; Eph 3:21; 1Ti 1:17, etc.), “forever and ever.” The usage of the LXX. is very similar, where , etc., are frequent, as well as the adjective . Putting all these passages together, and adverting to the classical meaning of , and its Latin equivalent, aevum, a “lifetime,” we seem to arrive at the primary meaning of as being a “generation,” and then any long period of time analogous to a man’s lifetime. Hence would be times made up of successive generations, and would mean at the very beginning of the times which consisted of human generations. would be one great generation, consisting of all the successive generations of mankind. The whole duration of mankind in this present world would be in this sense one vast , to be followed by we know not what succeeding ones. Thus Eph 1:21, is contrasted with , the idea being that the world has its lifetime analogous to the lifetime of a man. The same period may also be considered as made up of several shorter , the prediluvial, the patriarchal, the Mosaic, the Christian, and such like (see note to 1Ti 1:17).

2Ti 1:10

Hath now been manifested for is now made manifest, A.V.; Christ Jesus for Jesus Christ, A.V.; abolished for hath abolished, A.V.; brought for hath brought, A.V.; incorruption for immortality, A.V. Hath now been manifested (); a word of very frequent use by St. Paul. The same contrast between the long time during which God’s gracious purpose lay hidden, and the present time when it was brought to light by the gospel, which is contained in this passage, is forcibly dwelt upon in Eph 3:1-12. The appearing ( ), applied here, as in the name of the Festival of the Epiphany, to the first advent, but in Eph 4:1 and Tit 2:13 and elsewhere applied to the second advent, “the glorious appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit 2:13). Abolished (); i.e. “destroyed,” or “done away,” or “made of none effect,” as the word is variously rendered (1Co 15:26; 2Co 3:11; Gal 3:17; comp. Heb 2:14). Brought to light (); as in 1Co 4:15. Elsewhere rather “to give light,” or “to enlighten” (see Luk 11:36; Heb 6:4; Heb 10:32, etc.). For a full description of the abolition of death and the introduction of eternal life in its stead, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, see Rom 5:1-21. and 6., and especially Rom 6:8-11. Through the gospel; because the gospel both declares the death and resurrection of Christ, and calls us to share in them. These mighty glories of the gospel were good reasons why Timothy should not be ashamed of the testimony of his Lord, nor shrink from the afflictions of the gospel. They were signal evidences of the power of God.

2Ti 1:11

Was for am, A.V.; teacher for teacher of the Gentiles, A.V. and T.R. Was appointed (); comp. 1Ti 1:12, , “appointing me to the ministry;” and 1Ti 2:7. A preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher (so also 1Ti 2:7). Teacher () is one of the spiritual offices enumerated in 1Co 12:28 and Eph 4:11. It is surely remarkable that neither here nor elsewhere does St. Paul speak of any call to the priesthood in a sacerdotal sense (see Rom 1:1, Rom 1:5; Rom 15:16; 1Co 1:1, etc.).

2Ti 1:12

Suffer also for also suffer, A.V.; yet for nevertheless, A.V.; him whom for whom, A.V.; guard for keep, A.V. For the which cause (2Ti 1:6, note) I suffer also. The apostle adds the weight of his own example to the preceding exhortation. What he was exhorting Timothy to do he was actually doing himself, without any wavering or hesitation or misgiving as to the result. I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him. The ground of the apostle’s confidence, even in the hour of extreme peril, was his perfect trust in the faithfulness of God. This he expresses in a metaphor drawn from the common action of one person entrusting another with some precious deposit, to be kept for a time and restored whole and uninjured. All the words in the sentence are part of this metaphor. The verb must be taken in the sense of “entrusting” (curae ac fidei alicujus committo), as Luk 16:11. So , “to be entrusted with the gospel” (1Th 2:4); , “I am entrusted with a dispensation” (1Co 9:17; see Wis. 14:5, etc.). And so in classical Greek, means “to entrust something to another” to take care of for you. Here, then, St. Paul says (not as in the R.V., “I know him whom I have believed,” which is quite inadmissible, but), “I know whom I have trusted [i.e. in whom I have placed confidence, and to whom I have committed the keeping of my deposit], and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have entrusted to him ( ) unto that day.” The is the thing which Paul entrusted to his faithful guardian, one who he knew would never betray the trust, but would restore it to him safe and sound at the day of Christ. What the was may be difficult to express in any one word, but it comprised himself, his life, his whole treasure, his salvation, his joy, his eternal happinessall for the sake of which he risked life and limb in this world, content to lose sight of them for a while, knowing that he should receive them all from the hands of God in the day of Christ. All thus hangs perfectly together. There can be no reasonable doubt that means, “my deposit”that which I have deposited with him. Neither is there the slightest difficulty in the different applications of the same metaphor in Luk 16:14 and in 1Ti 6:20. For it is as true that God entrusts to his faithful servants the deposit of the faith, to be kept by them with jealous fidelity, as it is that his servants entrust to him the keeping of their souls, as knowing him to be faithful.

2Ti 1:13

Hold for hold fast, A.V.; pattern for form, A.V.; from for of, A.V. Hold (). This use of in the pastoral Epistles is somewhat peculiar. In 1Ti 1:19, , “holding faith;” in 1Ti 3:6, , “holding the mystery of the faith; ‘ and here, “hold the pattern,” etc. It seems to have a more active sense than merely “have,” and yet not to have the very active sense of “hold fast.” It may, however, well be doubted whether here is used in even as strong a sense as in the other two passages, inasmuch as here it follows instead of preceding the substantive (see Alford, in loc.). The pattern (); only here and 1Ti 1:16 (where see note), where it manifestly means a “pattern,” not a “form.” The word signifies a “sketch,” or “outline.” St. Paul’s meaning, therefore, seems to be: “For your own guidance in teaching the flock committed to you, and for a pattern which you will try and always copy, have before you the pattern or outline of sound words which you have heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” Sound words ( ); see 1Ti 1:10, note. In faith and love; either hold the pattern in faith and love, or which you have heard in faith and love.

2Ti 1:14

Guard for keep, A.V.; through for by, A.V. That good thing ( , R.T., for ); see 1Ti 6:20, and note. This naturally follows the preceding verse. Faithfulness in maintaining the faith was closely connected with the maintenance of sound words.

2Ti 1:15

That are for they which are, A.V.; turned for be turned, A.V.; Phygelus for Phygellus, A.V. and T.R. Turned away from ( ). This verb is used, as here, governing an accusative of the person or thing turned away from, in Tit 1:14; Heb 12:25, as frequently in classical Greek. The use of the aorist here is important, as St. Paul does not mean to say that the Churches of Asia had all forsaken him, which was not true, and which it would be absurd to inform Timothy of if it were true, living as he was at Ephesus, the central city of Asia, but adverts to some occasion, probably connected with his trim before Nero, when they shrank from him in a cowardly way. means “the whole party in Asia” connected with the particular transaction to which St. Paul is alluding, and which was known to Timothy though it is not known to us. Perhaps he had applied to certain Asiatics, whether Christians or Jews or GraecoRomans, for a testimony to his orderly conduct in Asia, and they had refused it; or they may have been at Rome at the time, and avoided St. Paul; and among them Phygelus and Hermogenes, whose conduct may have been particularly ungrateful and unexpected. Nothing is known of either of them.

2Ti 1:16

Grant for give, A.V. Grant mercy ( ). This connection of the words is only found here. The house of Onesiphorus. It is inferred from this expression, coupled with that in 2Ti 4:19, that Onesiphorus himself was no longer living; and hence 2Ti 4:18 (where see note) is thought by some to be an argument for prayers for the dead. The inference, further strengthened by the peculiar language of 2Ti 4:18, though not absolutely certain, is undoubtedly probable. The connection between this and the preceding verse is the contrast between the conduct of Phygelus and Hermogenes and that of Onesiphorus. They repudiated all acquaintance with the apostle in his day of trial; he, when he was in Rome, diligently sought him and with difficulty found him. and oft refreshed him with Christian sympathy and communion, acting with no less courage than love. He was no longer on earth to receive a prophet’s reward (Mat 10:41), but St. Paul prays that he may receive it in the day of Christ, and that meanwhile God may requite to his family the mercy he had showed to St. Paul. Refreshed me (); literally, revived me. Only here in the New Testament, but comp. Act 3:19. Chain (); in the singular, as Eph 6:20; Act 28:20 (where see note).

2Ti 1:17

Sought for sought out, A.V.; diligently for very diligently, A.V. and T.R.

2Ti 1:18

To find for that he may find, A.V.; ministered for ministered unto me, A.V. (The Lord grant unto him). The parenthesis seems only to be required on the supposition that the words …., are a kind of play on the of the preceding verse. Otherwise it is better to take the words as a new sentence. The repetition of “the Lord” is remarkable, but nothing seems to hang upon it. The second seems to suppose the Lord sitting on the judgment throne. As regards the amount of encouragement given by this passage to prayers for the dead (supposing Onesiphorus to have been dead), the mere expression of a pious wish or hope that he may find mercy is a very slender foundation on which to build the superstructure of prayer and Masses for the deliverance of souls from purgatory. In how many things, etc. St. Paul does not say, as the A.V. makes him say, that Onesiphorus “ministered unto him” at Ephesus. It may have been so, but the words do not necessarily mean this. “What good service he did at Ephesus” would faithfully represent the Greek words; and this might describe great exertions made by Onesiphorus after his return from Rome to procure the apostle’s acquittal and release by the intercession of the principal persons at Ephesus. This would, of course, be known to Timothy. It may, however, describe the ministerial labours and services of Onesiphorus at Ephesus after his return from Rome, or it may refer to former ministrations when Paul and Timothy were at Ephesus together (see Introduction). There seem to be no materials for arriving at absolute certainty on the point.

HOMILETICS

2Ti 1:1-7

Reminiscences.

A ring once given to an old and loved friend, who in later life had been cut off from the former loving intercourse by the inevitable course of events, bore this touching inscription, “Cara memoria dei primieri anni” (dear memory of old times). The memories of a happy unclouded youth, of youthful friendships, of joyous days, of pursuits lit up by sanguine hopes and bright expectations, are indeed often among the most precious treasures of the heart. And in like manner the recollection of former triumphs of faith in days of dark doubt and difficulty, of temptations overcome, of victories gained, of grace received, of work done for God, of Christian intercourse with God’s saints, and happy hours of prayer, and treading underfoot all the powers of darkness, are not only bright lights illuminating the past journey of life, but are often among our strongest incentives to perseverance, and our best encouragements to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. St. Paul, that great master in the knowledge of human nature, knew this well. And so with inimitable skilla skill heightened and set off by the warm affections of a tender hearthe calls back Timothy’s recollections to the days of his early faith. That there had been anything like a falling away from the faith in Timothy, any real declension in his religious life, there is no reason to believe. But the quick eye of the apostle had detected some symptoms of weakness. The pulse of firm resolution, as dangers thickened around him, had not beaten so steadily as he would have wished. He did not see the symptoms of Christian courage rising with the rising flood of difficulty quite so marked as to set his mind at case as to what might happen if, after his own death, which he felt was near, Timothy were left alone to confront the perils of a fierce persecution, or to guide the wavering purpose of timid and fainting disciples. And so he calls back his dearly beloved son in the faith to the old days of his first conversion. The lessons of faith and obedience learnt on his mother’s knee in the dear home at Lystra, whose blessed fruit had attracted St. Paul’s notice; the first appearance of the apostle in those regions in the noonday of his apostolic zeal; the bold front with which he had met the storm of affliction and persecution; Timothy’s own warm surrender of himself to the companionship of the great teacher, and his exchange of a happy, peaceful home for the wandering life and incessant peril of an evangelist; then the solemn time of his ordinationthe time when, with prayer and fasting, he had knelt to receive the laying on of hands, and had exulted in the new gift of God with which he might go forth fearlessly and lovingly, and in a strength not his own, to emulate his father in the faith in preaching the gospel of God’s saving grace,Oh, let Timothy cherish those dear memories of former times! And there were later memories still. Their last meeting, and their last adieu. They had parted, under what circumstances we do not know; St. Paul hastening on to his crown of martyrdom, Timothy remaining at his post of work and of danger. And Timothy had wept. Were they tears of bitterness, tears of compunction, tears of a heart broken and melting under a gentle loving reproof, or were they only tears of sorrow at parting? We cannot say for certain; but St. Paul remembered them, and he recalls them to Timothy’s memory too. He adds the hope that, as they had sown in tears, they would reap in joythe joy, perhaps, of a healed wound and renovated spiritual strength, or, at all events, the joy of meeting once more before the fall of the curtain of death to close the drama of Paul’s eventful life. The lesson left for us by these heart-stirring words is the value of the memory of the past when brought to bear upon the work of the future. “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,” is a sentiment which continually comes up in the varied experiences of the psalmist. He quickened hope in the land of banishment by remembering the days of happy worship in the house of God (Psa 42:1-11.); he added depth to his sorrow for sin by recalling the memory of that joy of salvation which he had forfeited by his fall (Psa 51:1-19.). And so we shall do well in times of weakness to remember our former strength; in days of darkness to call to mind the days of light that were of old; in days of slackness and indolence to call back the memory of the time when we were all on fire to do God’s work; in days of depression to think of old mercies shown and old graces given to us of God; to quench the fear of defeat by the recollection of ancient victories; and, in a word, to make the past supply the present with incentives to an undying zeal, and a steadfast courage in facing all the afflictions of the gospel according to the unchanging power of God.

2Ti 1:8-18

Constancy in the hour of danger.

There are great differences of natural temperament in different men. There are those whose courage is naturally high. Their instinct is to brave danger, and to be confident of overcoming it. They do not know what nervousness, or sinking of heart, or the devices of timidity, mean. Others are of a wholly different temperament. The approach of danger unnerves them. Their instinct is to avoid, not to overcome, danger; to shrink from suffering, not to confront it. There are ever in the Church the bold and dauntless Gideons, and the wavering and timid Peters. But the grace of God is able to strengthen the weak hands and to confirm the feeble knees. He can say to them that are of fearful heart, “Be strong; fear not.” lie can give power to the faint, and increase strength to them that have no might. And there is perhaps no more edifying sight than that of the quiet unboasting courage of those whose natural timidity has been overcome by an overpowering sense of duty and of love to Christ, and who have learnt, in the exercises of prayer and meditation on the cross of Christ, to endure hardness without flinching, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. But to yield to fear, and, under its influence, to be ashamed to confess the Name of Jesus Christ, and to repudiate fellowship with those who are suffering for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s, lest we should fall into the same reproach with them, is sin, and sin most unworthy of those for whom Christ died, and who have been made partakers of so great salvation. No plea of natural timidity can excuse such unworthy conduct. It behoves, therefore, men of a timid and gentle spirit to fortify their faith by frequent contemplation of the cross of Christ, and habitually to take up that cross, and by it crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. Let them think often of their holy calling, remember that they are the servants of him who “endured the cross, despising the shame,” and look forward to the recompense of reward. Let them contrast the base, unmanly conduct of the men of Asia, who turned away from the noble Paul in his hour of danger, with the faithful, generous conduct of Onesiphorus, who sought him out in his prison and was not ashamed of his chain. And surely they will come to the conclusion that affliction with the people of God is better than immunity from suffering purchased by shame and sin.

HOMILIES BY T. CROSKERY

2Ti 1:1, 2Ti 1:2

The apostle’s address and greeting.

This Epistle, which has been well described as “the last will and testament” of the apostle, written as it was under the very shadow of death, opens with a touching evidence of personal interest in Timothy.

I. THE ORIGIN AND DESIGN OF THE APOSTLESHIP. “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.”

1. He was an apostle.

(1) Not by the will of man, even of other apostles.

(2) Nor by his own will; for he did not take this honour upon himself.

(3) Nor was it owing to his personal merits; for he always speaks of it as “the grace of apostleship.”

(4) He was an apostle by the will of God, whose “chosen vessel” he was for this purpose.

2. The design of his apostleship was “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.“ Its design was to make known this promise.

(1) It was life eternal;

(2) promised in Christ Jesus, because

(a) it was “promised before the world began” (Tit 1:2);

(b) in Christ, who is the Prince of life, who procured it, who applies it by his Spirit.

II. THE PERSON ADDRESSED. “To Timothy, my beloved son.” Not, as in the former Epistle, “my true son,” but a son specially dear to him in view of the approaching severance of the earthly tie that bound them together.

III. THE GREETING. “Grace, mercy, and peace.” (See homiletical hints on 1Ti 1:2.)T.C.

2Ti 1:3-5

Thankful declaration of love and remembrance of Timothy’s faith.

I. THE APOSTLE‘S AFFECTIONATE INTEREST IN HIS YOUNG DISCIPLE. “I give thanks to God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, as unceasing is the remembrance I have of thee in my prayers night and day; greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy.”

1. The apostle begins all Epistles with the language of thanksgiving. God is the Object of thanksgiving, both as God of nature and as God of grace, and there is no blessing we have received that ought not to be thankfully acknowledged.

2. It is allowable for a good man to take pleasure in the thought of a consistently conscientious career. His service of God was according to the principles and feelings he inherited from his ancestors “in a pure conscience” (Act 23:1; Act 24:14).

3. Ministers ought to be much engaged in prayer for one another so as to strengthen each other‘s hands.

4. The thought of approaching death makes us long to see the friends who have been most endeared to us in life.

(1) The apostle remembered Timothy’s sorrow at their last parting.

(2) Though he had commanded him before to stay at Ephesus, he now desired to see him, because he was alone in prison, with Luke as his only companion.

(3) The sight of Timothy in Rome would fill him with joy beyond that imparted by all the other friends and companions of his apostolic life.

II. THE APOSTLE‘S THANKSGIVING FOR TIMOTHY‘S FAITH. “Being put in remembrance of the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that also in thee.”

1. The quality of this faith. “Unfeigned.” Timothy was “an Israelite indeed,” who believed with the heart unto righteousness, his faith working by love to God and man, and accompanied by good works.

2. its permanent character. “It dwelt in him.” Faith is an abiding grace; Christ, who is its Author, is also its Finisher; and salvation is inseparably connected with it.

3. The subjects of this faith. “First in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice.”

(1) Lois was his grandmother by the mother’s side, for his father was a Greek; and Eunice, his mother, was probably converted at Lystra, at no great distance from Tarsus, the native city of the apostle (Act 16:1; Act 14:6).

(a) It is pleasant to see faith transmitted through three generations. It is sin, and not grace, that is easily transmitted by blood. But when we are “born, not of blood, but of God,” we have reason to be thankful, like the apostle, for such a display of rich family mercy.

(b) We see here the advantages of a pious education, for it was from the persons named he obtained in his youth that knowledge of the Scriptures which made him wise unto salvation (2Ti 3:15).

(c) How often Christian mothers have given remarkable sons to the ministry of God’s Church!

(2) Timothy was himself a subject of this faith. He did not break off the happy continuity of grace in his family, but worthily perpetuated the best type of ancestral piety.T.C.

2Ti 1:6

The apostle’s admonition to Timothy to stir up the gift of God within him.

It was because of his persuasion of Timothy’s faith, and perhaps of the apprehension that the young disciple had been depressed by his own long imprisonment, that he addressed him in this manner.

I. THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS POSSESSED BY TIMOTHY. “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance to stir up the gift of God which is in thee by means of the laying on of my hands.”

1. He refers to the special gift received by Timothy with a view to his niece as an evangelist. It was not anything either natural or acquired, but something bestowed by the Spirit of God which would fit him for teaching and ruling the Church of God.

2. It was conferred by the hands of the apostle along with the presbytery (1Ti 4:14).

II. THE NECESSITY OF STIRRING UP THIS SPIRITUAL GIFT.

1. It is possible there may have been some slackness or decline of power on Timothy’s part, arising from various causes of discouragement, to make this injunction necessary.

2. The gift was to be stirred up by reading, meditations, and prayer, so that he might be enabled, with fresh zeal, to reform the abuses of the Church and endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.T.C.

2Ti 1:7

The Divine equipment for arduous service in the Church.

The apostle here adds a reason for the injunction just given.

I. NEGATIVELY. “For God did not give us the spirit of cowardice.”

1. This refers to the time of the ordination of Timothy and of the apostle. Courage is an essential qualification for ministers of the gospel.

2. Cowardice is unworthy of those who have received the gospel in trust. The fear of man has a very wide dominion, but those who fear God ought to know no other fear.

(1) This fear tends to unworthy compliances.

(2) Trust in God is a preservation from fear (Psa 27:1).

(3) Our Lord exhorts us strongly against such fear (Joh 14:27).

II. POSITIVELY. “But of power, and of love, and of self-control.”

1. The spirit of power, as opposed to the weakness of cowardice; for the servants of Christ are fortified against persecutions and reproaches, are enabled to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ, and to quit themselves like men.

2. The spirit of love. This will make them earnest in their care for souls, indefatigable in labours, fearless in the midst of trying exigencies, and self-sacrificing in love.

3. The spirit of self-control. This will enable the servant of Christ to keep his whole being in subjection to the Lord, apart from all the solicitations of the world, and to regulate life with a due regard to its duties, its labours, and its cares.T.C.

2Ti 1:8

Warning to Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel, nor to shrink from afflictions.

This exhortation is dependent upon the previous counsel.

I. THE MINISTER OF GOD MUST NOT BE ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me his prisoner.”

1. The testimony of the Lord is that borne concerning his doctrine, sufferings, and death; in a word, the gospel itself.

2. No Christian can be ashamed of a gospel of such power, so true, so gracious, so useful.

3. No Christian can be ashamed of its confessors. The apostle was a prisoner at Rome for its sake, not for crime of any sort. The gospel then laboured under an immense load of pagan prejudice, and Timothy needed to be reminded of his obligations to sympathize with its greatest expounder.

II. THE MINISTER OF GOD MUST SHARE IN THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE GOSPEL. “But be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.”

1. Though it is a gospel of peace, it brings a sword wherever it goes, and involves its preachers in tribulations arising out of the perverseness of men who thwart and despise it.

2. We ought to suffer hardship for the gospel, by the consideration that the God who has saved us with such a strong hand is able to succour us under all our afflictions.T.C.

2Ti 1:9-11

The power of God in the salvation manifested by Jesus Christ to the world.

He now proceeds to expound in a glorious sentence the origin, conditions, manifestations of the salvation provided in the gospel.

I. THE MANNER IN WHICH THE POWER OF GOD HAS BEEN DISPLAYED TOWARD US. “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

1. The power of God has been displayed toward us in salvation. God is the Author of salvation in its most comprehensive sense, as including both its impetration and its application. The salvation may be said to precede the calling, as

(1) it has its origin in the “purpose of God,”

(2) as Christ has procured it by his death.

2. It has been displayed in our calling.

(1) The call is the act of the Father (Gal 1:6).

(2) It is a “holy calling,”

(a) as its Author is holy;

(b) it is a call to holiness;

(c) the called are enabled to live holy lives.

3. The principle or condition of our salvation. “Not according to our works.”

(1) Negatively. Works are not

(a) the moving cause of it, which is the love and favour of God (Joh 3:16);

(b) nor are they the procuring cause, which is the obedience and death of Christ (Rom 3:21-26);

(c) nor do they help in the application of salvation; for works done before our calling are not good, being without fairly; and works done after it are the fruits of our calling, and therefore not the cause of it.

(2) Positively. “But according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ before the world began.” Salvation has thus a double aspect.

(a) It is “according to the purpose of God.” It is a gift from eternity; for it was “before the world began,” and therefore it was not dependent upon man’s works.

(b) It is according to “his grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” Though those to whom it was given were not in existence, they existed in Christ as the covenant Head and Representative of his people. They were chosen in him (Eph 1:4).

II. THE MANIFESTATION OF THIS PURPOSE AND GRACE IN THE INCARNATION AND WORK OF CHRIST. “But manifested now by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

1. The nature of this manifestation. It included

(1) the Incarnation; for the Son of God appeared in the fulness of time to make known the “mystery hid from ages,” even himself”the Hope of glory”to both Jew and Gentile;

(2) the work of Christ, in the obedience of his life and the suffering of his deathin a word, the whole work of redemption.

2. The effects of this manifestation. “Who abolished death, and brought to light life and incorruptibility by means of the gospel.”

(1) Its action upon death. It has abolished or made it of none effect. Death is regarded both in its physical and its ethical aspects.

(a) In its physical aspects, Christ has

() deprived it of its sting, and made it a blessing to believers (Heb 2:14; 1Co 15:55), and

() secured its ultimate abolition (Rev 21:4).

(b) In its ethical aspects, as working through a law of sin and death, Christ has caused us “to pass from death unto life” in regeneration (1Jn 3:14), and secured us from “the second death” (Rev 2:11).

(2) Its revelation of life and incorruptibility.

(a) Life here is the true life, over which death has no powerthe new and blessed life of the Spirit. This was, in a sense, known to the Old Testament saints; but Christ exhibited it, in its resurrection aspect, after he rose from the dead. It was in virtue of his resurrection, indeed, that the saints of the old economy had life at all. But they did not see it as we see it.

(b) Incorruptibility. Not in reference to the risen body, but to the life of the soul, in its imperishable qualities, in its perfect exemption from death (1Pe 1:4; Rev 21:4).

(c) The means of this revelation is the gospel, which makes this life perfectly known to men, as to its nature, as to the way into it, as to the persons for whom it is prepared or designed.

III. THE CONNECTION OF THE APOSTLE WITH THIS REVELATION OF LIFE. “For which I was appointed a herald and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.” He rehearses his titles of dignity at the very time that he points to them as entailing suffering upon him.T.C.

2Ti 1:12

The grounds of his joyful confidence under all his sufferings

I. HIS APOSTLESHIP WAS THE CAUSE OF HIS SUFFERINGS. “For which cause I also am suffering these things”imprisonment, solitude, the hatred of Jew and Gentile. He estranged the Jews by preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, and he offended the Gentiles by denouncing their idolatries and undermining their lucrative superstitions.

II. HE OWNS NO SHAME IN THE GOSPEL. It may be an offence to the Greek and a stumbling block to the Jew; but he is not ashamed of it, because he is not ashamed:

1. Of its Author.

2. Of its truths and ordinances.

3. Of his own faith in it.

4. Of his sufferings for it.

III. THE REASON WHY HE IS NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. “For I know whom. I have trusted, and am persuaded that he is able to keep my deposit till that day.”

1. He knows his Redeemer through faith and love and experience. It is “eternal life” to know him (Joh 17:3). It is not that he merely knows of him, but he knows himwhat he is, what he can do, what he has promised to doand therefore he can trust him.

2. His trust is in a known Person.

(1) The apostle would have been very foolish to trust an unknown person. We distrust strangers. We will only entrust that which is dear to usour children or our moneyto those known to us.

(2) There are foolish people who think it a wiser, as well as a more meritorious thing, to believe without knowledge; like the Spanish Jesuit who said, “I believe in this doctrine, not in spite of its impossibility, but because it is impossible.” The apostle held a very different view.

(3) There are some people of whom we may say that the mere they are known the less are they trusted. A fuller experience discovers flaws in their character forbidding confidence. But our Saviour is One who is trusted the more he is known, in all the various circumstances of human life.

3. The apostle has placed his soul, as a precious deposit, in the hands of Christ, with the assurance of its perfect safety. “I am persuaded that he is able to keep my deposit till that day.” Several circumstances enhance the significance of this act of the apostle.

(1) The value of the deposit. What can be more precious than the soul? (Mar 8:37).

(2) The danger of its loss. The soul is a lost thing, and but for grace eternally so.

(3) The sinner feels the deposit is not safe with himself. Man cannot, any more than man’s brother, save his own soul.

(4) Who will take charge of this deposit? Many shrink from responsibility in cases of a difficult and delicate nature. But Jesus Christ has undertaken for us; he will take us completely in charge; he will keep our deposit till the day of judgment.

(5) Mark the limit of time as to the safety of the deposit”till that day.” No day short of thatnot even the day of death; for the completed glory is reserved for the day of judgment. That will be the day for the bestowal of the crown of life.

4. Mark the assurance of the apostle as to the safety of his deposit. “I am persuaded that he is able to keep my deposit.” This shows

(1) that assurance is a possible attainment (1Jn 5:13);

(2) that it is a cheering and sustaining experience.T.C.

2Ti 1:13

Importance of the form of sound words.

“Hold the pattern of sound words.”

I. THIS INJUNCTION IMPLIES THAT THE DOCTRINES OF THE GOSPEL HAD BEEN ALREADY MOULDED INTO A CERTAIN SHAPE OR SYSTEM WHICH WAS EASILY GRASPED BY THE POPULAR MIND. As necessity arose, there was a restatement, in a new form, of the faith once professed so as to neutralize false theories. Thus the Apostle John recast the doctrine of Christ’s manifestation in the world in his Epistles. There are other examples of such restatement. As errorists often seduce by an adroit use of words, it becomes necessary to have “a pattern of sound words,” not merely as a witness for the truth, but as a protest against error. Timothy was in this case to adhere to the form of what he had heard from the apostle, and received with such “faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”

II. THE USE OF SUCH A FORM.

1. It was a centre of doctrinal unity to the Church.

2. It exhibited the truth in a consistent light to the world.

3. It afforded a rallying point in the conflict with systems of error.

4. It tended to spiritual stability.T.C.

2Ti 1:14

The importance of preserving the precious deposit of doctrine.

I. THERE IS A SYSTEM OF TRUTH DEPOSITED IN THE HANDS OF THE CHURCH. “That good deposit keep through the Holy Ghost who dwelleth in us.”

1. The truth is not discovered by the Church, but deposited in its keeping. This is the significance of the words of Jude, when he speaks of “the faith once delivered to the saints.” That is

(1) “the faith”a system of gospel doctrines recognized by the Church at large;

(2) “delivered,” not discovered or elaborated out of the Christian consciousness;

(3) “once” delivered, in reference to the point of time when the revelation was made by inspired men;

(4) deposited in the hands of men”to the saints”as trustees, for its safe keeping. It is “a good deposit;” good in its Author, its matter, its results, its end.

II. IT IS THE DUTY OF MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH TO KEEP THIS DEPOSIT.

1. They ought to do it, because it is a commanded duty.

2. Because it is for the Church‘s edification, safety, and stability.

3. Because it is for the glory of God.

4. They cannot do it except in the power of “the Holy Ghost who dwelleth in us.“

(1) Because he leads us into all truth;

(2) because he by the truth builds up the Church as “a habitation of God;”

(3) because he gives the insight and the courage by which believers are enabled to reject the adulterations and mixtures of false systems.T.C.

2Ti 1:15

The Asiatic desertion of the apostle.

He reminds Timothy of a fact well known to him already, that he had suffered from a melancholy desertion of friends.

I. THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF HIS LOSS. “All who are in Asia turned away from me.”

1. As to its nature. It was not a repudiation of Christianity. It was a desertion of the apostle himself, either through fear of persecution, or through a repudiation of his catholic ideas on behalf of the Gentiles. The Christian Jews seem everywhere to have forsaken him. In one of his prison-letters he can only name two or three Jews who were a comfort to him in the gospel (Col 4:11).

2. As to its extent. The Asiatic desertion may have probably taken place in Rome itself, probably at a time when his life, and that of all Christians, was threatened by Nero; probably at the time referred to in the end of this Epistle, when he could say, “No man stood by me; all men forsook me.” Those who would identify themselves with the apostle of the Gentiles at such a time would probably be Gentiles rather than Jews. Thus the number of the deserters might not be great. If the desertion took place in Asia Minor, it would only suggest a widespread falling away from the aged prisoner at Rome, but not from the gospel. The apostle singles out two persons quite unknown to us”Phygelus and Hermogenes”as the ringleaders of this movement. The fact that so few names are mentioned tends to reduce the extent of the sad misfortune.

II. THE EFFECT OF THIS DESERTION. The apostle does not dwell upon it, but rather dismisses the deserters in a single sentence. Yet:

1. It would be a severe trial to the faith of the aged apostle in his dying days. The desertion of friends is always a sore trial, but when the friendship is cemented by religion, its intensity is peculiarly enhanced.

2. The apostle refers to it with the view of stimulating Timothy to still greater courage in the cause of the gospel.T.C.

2Ti 1:16-18

The praiseworthy conduct of Onesiphorus.

In contrast with the Asiatic deserters, he dwells upon the kindly sympathy of one Asiatic Christian whom he had long known at Ephesus.

I. THE KINDNESS OF ONESPHORUS. “He oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: but, when he was at Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.”

1. The apostle, as well as Timothy, had had an earlier experience of this good man, who was probably an Ephesian merchant, who went from time to time to Rome to do business, for he says, “In how many things he ministered at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.”

2. He did not probably come to Rome from Ephesus for the special purpose of visiting the apostle, but, having found himself there, he made it his business to visit the apostle.

(1) He took pains to find out the apostle. “He sought me out very diligently.” Why was it so difficult to discover the prison in which the apostle was confined? There were many prisons in Rome, and he may have been transferred from prison to prison. But where were the Roman Christians who met the apostle on his first visit to the city, that they could not inform Onesiphorus of the place of the imprisonment? Had they too turned away from him? Or had Nero struck an unworthy terror into their hearts? Onesiphorus persevered, however, in his search, and found him in his prison.

(2) He “oft refreshed the apostle, and was not ashamed of his chain.” This implies

(a) that he visited him more than once;

(b) that the imprisonment, though severe, did not quite debar all access to the outside world;

(c) that the Christians at Rome were impliedly ashamed of the apostles’ chain, else such prominence would not have been given to the kindness and courage of this noble Ephesian saint.

II. THE RETURN WHICH THE APOSTLE MAKES FOR THE KINDNESS OF ONESIPHORUS. “The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus the Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day.” He cannot make any other return for kindness than a fervent prayer for Onesiphorus and for his family.

1. The prayer suggests that though the apostle is shut up from the world, the way to heaven is still open. He cannot pay his visitor the compliment of seeing him to the door, but he can remember him at a throne of grace.

2. He remembers the household of this good man. What blessings descend upon householders who are blessed with such a head! The apostle prays for “mercy” on this happy household. Every blessing is included in the term.

3. The prayer for Onesiphorus himself is likewise a prayer for mercy. Some have inferred that he was now dead, and that we have here an example of prayer for a dead man. The supposition is entirely gratuitous. Onesiphorus may have been absent from Ephesus, as he necessarily was on his visit to the apostle. Besides, his visit to the apostle, must have occurred only a very short time previously, for it is admitted on all hands that the apostle’s last imprisonment was very brief, and it is rather improbable that Onesiphorus should have died immediately after his visit to Rome, or that the apostle should have heard of it. Oncsiphorus would have the blessing promised by our Lord in the memorable saying, “I was in prison, and ye visited me.”T.C.

HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM

2Ti 1:1

“The promise of life.”

It was an age of death when St. Paul wrote this Epistle. Beneath all the gaieties of Roman civilization there was decay of morals, and corruption of the inner life. Suicide, as we have seen, was common in Rome, and men, tired of themselves, and disbelieving alike in present or in future joy, put an end to their earthly existence. St. Paul was now enduring his second imprisonment at Rome. In the year A.D. 63 the great conflagration, for which that master of crime, Nero, was responsible, took place, burning half the city. He falsely charged his own crime on the Christians, some of whom were covered with the skins of beasts and thrown to the dogs; some were covered with inflammable materials, and burnt as human torches, which illuminated the gardens; while the bestial Nero drove abroad in his chariot, and indulged his base delight in the carnival of fire and blood. St. Paul, knowing his own end to be near at hand, in a city where his second imprisonment had become much more severe than the first one had been, had now no opportunity of preaching, as he did under the milder treatment he was subjected to before, and gives this second charge to Timothy, whom he exhorts to be courageous and earnest in the defence and proclamation of a faith which the imprisoned apostle could proclaim no more.

I. THE PROMISE OF LIFE IS SPOKEN OF AS THE REVELATION OF CHRIST. It is in Christ Jesus. That is to say, we as believers have in vital union with him, the pledge and promise of immortality. No power of earth or hell could touch that life. St. Paul feared not those who could kill the body, and after that had no more that they could do. He knew that the life within no sword or flame could slay, and he rejoices in the triumph of faith in Christ.

II. THE PROMISE OF LIFE IS SPOKEN OF AS A DEVELOPING POWER. It was a promise, an earnest, of the inheritance. He was yet to have life more abundantly. He looked forward to a time when his environment would be heavenly in its atmosphere, and ever without the blight of sin or the blastings of temptation, he should enjoy the fruition of life at God’s right hand forevermore.W.M.S.

2Ti 1:3

The inner self.

“With pure conscience.” There is no music in the world comparable to this. It is “the voice of melody,” and it enabled Paul and Silas to sing in prison. The conscience, “that sole monarchy in man,” was supreme in his nature under the Lordship of Christ.

I. IT WAS A CLEANSED CONSCIENCE, AND SO PURE. St. Paul is never weary of preaching the great doctrine of the atonementthat we are redeemed and renewed through the precious blood of Christ; and he rejoices to know that the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanseth from all sin.

II. IT WAS AN OBEYED CONSCIENCE, AND SO PURE. We have to consider that the conscience may speak truly and authoritatively, and be enlightened by the truth, and yet we may not obey the truth; for duty may be recognized as duty, and yet not discharged as such. Conscience may not be pure as regards the question of accountability.

III. IT WAS FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT, AND SO PURE. “The Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us” is an expression of St. Paul’s; and only so far as we have the “indwelling of the Spirit” in thought, imagination, conscience, and desire, can we be said to be pure within.W.M.S.

2Ti 1:5

A holy ancestry.

“Thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice.” We were constituted to be influenced through the family relationship, and it is sad indeed when the young break away from a religious ancestry, and forsake their fathers’ God.

I. HERE IS ALREADY AN HISTORIC PEDIGREE OF CHRISTIAN PEOPLE. The gospel had been long enough in the world to have a history in families. We find three generations here. The grandmother Lois, the mother Eunice, and “thee also.”

II. HERE IS THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL MANIFESTED. Unfeigned faith, or undissembled faith. No mere creed. No mere appearance of piety, in that age men of education despised the pagan faiths which they yet professed to believe. They kept up their actual adherence to heathen worship because of custom or family tradition, or because they believed religion in some sort to be the protective police of society, without which there would be revolution. This unfeigned faith was the faith of convictionthe faith that so believed in the risen Christ that it could endure persecution and suffer loss, and live or die for the sake of Christ, with the sure hope of eternal life.W.M.S.

2Ti 1:6

Quickening the memory.

“I put thee in remembrance.” Timothy was not to create a gospel, but to preach one. The facts and doctrines were matters of revelation, and Timothy had the humbler task of expanding and applying them. All through his gospel was to be that of the faith once delivered to the saints.

I. REMEMBRANCE IS NEEDED. Why? Memory is liable to slumber and to sleep. Do we mourn over this fact, and ask why this precious faculty was not stronger? Consider! Could you live in peace or joy at all, if all your sorrows and bereavements kept their clear details before your mind? No; their harrowing spectacles would deaden all the springs of life, and crush the heart. If those past griefs preserved their fulness life would be unendurable. There is a beautiful side, therefore, even to forgetfulness. Memory may slumber, but it does not die. It may be awakened and quickened for high and noble ends. Thus all Christians need to be “put in remembrance,” that they may hold fast the Word of life.

II. REMEMBRANCE IS COMPREHENSIVE. There are many springs to be touched. We become proud, and need to remember, as the Hebrews did, that we “were slaves.” We become self-dependent, and need to be reminded that “without Christ we can do nothing.” We become so interested in life that we try to make “home” here, and forget that we are pilgrims and strangers. We become negligent, and forget that responsibility is great and time is short.W.M.S.

2Ti 1:6

Stirring the fire.

“Stir up the gift that is in thee.” Literally, “stir up () the fire!” There may be fueleven of God’s Wordbut all fires die out unless from time to time they are stirred up.

I. THE FARE WAS THERE. His heart’s altar fire had been lighted. It had descended as a Divine flame from on high. But in the best of men there is danger of absence of watchfulness, for, like the light on the Jewish altar, the fire is not to die out night nor day.

II. THERE WERE MANY ENEMIES WHO WOULD QUENCH THE FIRE. The Judaizing teachers would have put out the true gospel light, by turning the gospel into a merely refined Judaism. The world would quench it, as it did the faith of Demas. And there is in us all the danger of spiritual slumber, which leaves the fire to die out by indolence and sloth. Therefore by meditation, by prayer, and by earnest endeavour, by admiration and emulation of heroic lives, we must “stir up the fire” that is in us.W.M.S.

HOMILIES BY R. FINLAYSON

2Ti 1:1-14

Address and salutation.

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” The language is similar to what is found in other of Paul’s Epistles. The peculiarity is that his apostleship is here associated with the promise of the gospel, which like a rainbow spans our sky in this dark world. It is the promise by preeminence; for its object is life, which is a name for all that can be needed here, or manifested under better conditions. It is a promise which has actually secured sure footing in Christ Jesus, being the realization of the sure mercies of David. But, in order that this promise may become the means of life to men, it must be proclaimed; and this points to the employment of an instrumentality by God. It was according to the promise in this view that Paul was employed as an apostle. It is further to be observed that his true child in the First Epistle is here his beloved child. If the one points to the possession of his spirit, the other points to the love that is properly founded on it. Good past to be followed by a good future.

I. THANKSGIVING.

1. Personal association in giving thanks. “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience.” He implies that Judaism was the forerunner of Christianity, and lays claim to the possession of a godly ancestry. The pure conscience (notwithstanding Act 23:1) is not to be absolutely applied to his whole life. He did turn aside from the godly direction in an unenlightened and culpable resistance to Christianity as seeming to threaten the existence of his inherited and beloved Judaism. But in the Christian position which he had so long maintained, as he had been indebted to godly forefathers, so he had preserved the godly continuity in his family. It is in view of what he has to say about Timothy that he makes this pleasing and interesting reference to his forefathers.

2. Feelings toward Timothy in giving thanks for him. “How unceasing is my remembrance of thee in my supplications, night and day longing to see thee, remembering thy tears, that I may be filled with joy.” Always in the underground of the apostle’s consciousness, the thought of his beloved Timothy came up uninterruptedly at his times of devotion. Every night and morning he felt the spellso tender was this strong man’s heartof the tears shed by Timothy at their parting; and the desire rose within him that he might be filled with the joy of another meeting.

3. Matter for thanksgiving in Timothy‘s faith which was hereditary. “Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in thee; which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and, I am persuaded, in thee also.” Something had come to the apostle’s knowledge which reminded him of the reality of Timothy’s faith. It was not feigned faith, that fails under trial. The apostle thinks of it as a kind of heirloom in the family. He could go back himself to two ancestresses of his in whom it dwelt. There was first Lois, his grandmother, who, we can believe, besides being godly according to the Jewish type, was before her end a Christian believer. She had to do with her daughter Eunice becoming a Christian believer. We are told of Eunice, in Act 16:1, that she was a Jewess who believed, while her husband was a Gentile. She in turn had to do with her son becoming a Christian believer. The apostle had all the greater confidence in the reality, and also vitality, of Timothy’s faith that (apart from Jewish influences of a godly nature) he was a Christian believer of the third generation. We have the promise that God will keep covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. God’s intention is that godly and Christian influence should be transmitted. He made one generation to follow another, proceeded on a principle of succession and not of contemporaneousness, that he might thereby have a godly seed (Ma Act 2:15). The best established Christians are among those who are of a godly stock. Therefore let the godly upbringing of the young be attended to. At the same time, let those who have had the advantage of a godly upbringing see that they are not left behind by those who have been reclaimed from ungodly society.

II. EXHORTATION.

1. Timothy is to stir up his gift. “For the which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands.” Paul is an adept at exhortation. Timothy, from the memory of Lois and Eunice, must catch fire. Nay, he had a personal association with Timothy, in having laid hands on him at his ordination. On that ground he can call upon him to stir up the gift then received, viz. the ministerial gift. Let him be true to his duties as a minister of Christ.

2. Confirmatory reason pointing to special exhortation. “For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.” Let him stir himself up against cowardice to which, as persecuted, he was exposed, and by this consideration that the imparted spirit in its amplitude excludes cowardice. It is a spirit of power. God has no jealousy of us; he wishes to be served with our strength and not with our weakness. It is a spirit of love; warmth of feeling, and not coldness, God would put into our service. It is a spirit of discipline. So far as this is to be distinguished from the other two words, it points to the guidance of reason. God wishes to be served, not with our ignorance, but with our well disciplined thoughts. With more power in our wills, with more glow in our affections, with more reason in our thoughts, we shall not cower before opposition.

3. Timothy is called upon to be specially on his guard against false shame. “Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel.” “Shame attends fear; when fear is conquered false shame takes flight” (Bengel). He had no reason for being ashamed on account of his association with the Lord to whom he testified. Neither had he reason for being ashamed on account of his association with Paul, who was not the Lord’s servant, but, more honourably (Gal 6:17), the Lord’s prisoner, i.e. by the will of Christ, more than by the will of Caesara prisoner, the disposal of him extending to the time, and all the circumstances, of his imprisonment. To suffer hardship with the gospel involves an unusual collocation of person and thing. It is usual to interpret the hardship as being suffered with Paul for the gospel. But as the thought requires the fixing of the attention, not on the second, but on both of the preceding clauses, it is better to leave indefinite with whom he is associated in suffering hardship.

4. Reason against false shame in the power of God. “According to the power of God.” The idea is that we should be free from shame in suffering for the gospel, according to the power on which we have to rely.

(1) It is a saving power. “Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling.” Power has already been displayed toward us in salvation, which we can think of as completed outside of us. It has also been operative within us, in our being called. When our unwillingness to accept of salvation was broken down, then we were called of God. It was with a holy calling that we were called, and it belongs to it as holy that we should be above shame in connection with Christ’s cause. The power that has already been displayed toward us is all in the direction of our being saved from this shame.

(2) It is a free power. “Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times eternal.” It is a power that is not determined in its exercise by our works or deservings. It was according to his own purpose, i.e. not from outward occasion, but arising in the depths of his own being. It was according to a purpose of grace, i.e. in which sinners, or the undeserving, were contemplated as in need. It was according to a purpose of grace in Christ Jesus, i.e. in which there was a looking to human merit only as in Christ. It was according to a purpose of grace before times eternal, i.e. long before man could have to do with it. Being a power so entirely pending on God, we can have confidence that it will go out, in the freest, most gracious manner, toward us.

(3) It is a glorious power. “But hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought light and incorruption to light through the gospel.” Hidden in God in eternity, it was for a time partially manifested. The time of its full manifestation corresponded with the appearing of Christ, which was also the medium of the manifestation. This is the only place in the New Testament in which the appearing is to be identified with the Incarnation, or the whole of Christ’s appearance in flesh. That appearing was as one of the weak things of the world. Especially did Christ seem to be the very impersonation of weakness when he was on the cross. And yet this was the grandest display of power, confounding the mighty; for it is here said that by this appearing he abolished death. He appeared in flesh, and endured death in all its reality, and, by doing so, he has made it no longer a reality to his people. He has made it of none effect. He has made it so that it cannot tyrannize over them. And, though they have to endure death, it is not as a token of God’s displeasure, but as his wise and good arrangement, and introduction into a state from which death is forever excluded. The positive side of the benefit derived from the appearing is presented under a slightly different aspect. It is regarded as presented in the gospel. And as death is a dark power, so the gospel is a light-giving power. What it has brought to light is of the utmost consequence. It is life, and life with the superlative quality of imperishableness. Under heathenism men had no right conception of life. Even with all the help that philosophy could give them, the meaning of life was dark to them. The gospel has shown it to consist in the favour of God, and the quickening of all our faculties under the breath of his Spirit. But specially are we to think of life in its imperishableness. We know that, to the heathen generally, the future was an absolute blank. A few of them had glimmerings, not of a resurrection, but of the survival of the thinking part, with some reward for the good. The gospel has brought immortality into the full clear light. It has given us the certainty of our existence after death. It, moreover, holds out before us the prospect of a life that is to be spent, without intermission or end, in the sunshine of God’s love, with ever increased quickening of all our powersa life in which there will be a reunion of soul and body, of which already we have the earnest in the resurrection of Christ. It is our great privilege that we live under this light of the gospel. It is the imperishableness of the life of God that is here begun that has power to nerve the soul, even to martyrdom.

5. Reason against false shame in the example of the apostle.

(1) Suffering connected with his office. “Whereunto I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher. For the which cause I suffer also these things.” As in 1Ti 2:8, he takes a threefold designation of office. As preacher or herald, it was his duty to cry aloud. As apostle, he was specially invested with authority. As teacher, he had to go among the Gentiles. It was a glad. message in relation to which he exercised his office, and it should have brought him many a welcome. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace!” But it brought him many a rebuff, and much outward disgrace; for at this time he was suffering his second imprisonment in Rome, and was nearing his martyrdom.

(2) Triumph over shame. “Yet I am not ashamed.” The apostle does not exhort Timothy without setting him an example. It was no small matter to him to be counted by men only worthy of imprisonment, and, very soon, of death. But he was so much impressed with the supreme importance of the gospel, that he heeded not the shame.

(3) Its personal assurance. Its strength. “For I know him whom I have believed.” As he is here speaking of his being a prisoner, we naturally take the reference to be to him whose prisoner in the eighth verse he declared himself to be, viz. the Lord. He had lived a life of faith on Christ; and he could speak confidently, from his own experience of him. Not I think I know him, but, as one would speak of a friend whom he has long and intimately lived with, I know him. Without experience we cannot have the assurance that excludes doubt. Only when we have tried Christ, and found him sufficient for us in all positions of life, can we rise above the language of hesitation. Its well supported nature. “And I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him against that day.” What is guarded is literally my deposit, and, as in the thirteenth verse “deposit” is something committed to Timothy, so some would think here of something committed to Paul, viz. his stewardship. But, as the guardian is also naturally the holder, we naturally think of something committed by Paul to Christ; and what was that but his interest, his stake in the future world, dependent on his faithfulness in this? How did Paul know that it would not turn out a blank, or be much diminished by future failure? The explanation was that he had put it into Christ’s hands, and he trusted in him being able to guard it for him against that day, viz. the day of judgment, when it would become irreversibly, gloriously his, being as it were handed back to him by Christ. One who has this well grounded assurance can meet death even triumphantly.

6. Timothy is further called upon to attend specially to his orthodoxy.

(1) The pattern. “Hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” There is a form of sound words, i.e. there is a correct expression of truth which is to be coveted, because on this depends the healthfulness of the life. To this form Paul had shaped his preaching. He had not indulged in logomachies, or private speculations, or adaptations to other systems, but he had kept himself, as a well disciplined thinker, to a plain, rational, forcible statement, and urging of what he believed to be necessary for the salvation of souls. Timothy was familiar with his truthful and healthful style; let it be the pattern to which he disciplined his thoughts and his preaching. He could only hold the pattern in the Christian element of faith and love.

(2) The good deposit. “That good thing which was committed unto thee guard through the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” This is the same thing under a different aspect, viz. the talent of the catholic faith, which a preacher has to guard. It is good, has vast blessings connected with it; therefore it is not to be neglected, it is to be kept from all mischances. The preacher must pray, think, use the help of the rule of faith, practise himself. But all his keeping, to be of any avail, must be allowing the Holy Ghost to keep, who is not far to seek, but is an Indweller in our souls. “So he giveth his beloved sleep,” delivers him from the consuming restlessness which would haunt him, if the keeping simply depended on himself.R.F.

2Ti 1:15-18

Contrasts.

I. PHYGELUS AND HERMOGENES. “This thou knowest, that all that are in Asia turned away from me; of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” The defection here referred to was from Paul and his interests. It extended to all that were in Asia, i.e. all Asiatics who at one time had been attached to the apostle, and whose attachment was put to the test when in Rome during his imprisonment. It was to have been expected of them that they would have found their way to his dungeon; but, as if they had put it to themselves whether they would go or not, they chose the latter alternative. They turned away from him. They probably found some excuse in the pressure of business; but in the real character of their action it was turning their back on the imprisoned apostle. In this not very numerous class Phygelus and Hermogenes are singled out for notice, probably because they had showed the greatest unbrotherliness. We know nothing more of them than is mentioned here. It has been their destiny to be handed down to posterity as men who acted an unworthy part toward a noble man in his extremity. They did not know that such an evil immortality was to attach to their action; but their action was on that account only the more free. Let all our actions be upright and generous; for we do not know by which of them we shall be known among men. This defection is referred to Timothy as being within his knowledge; for by their example he was to be deterred from cowardice, and his bravery was to be all the greater that these men were cowards.

II. ONESIPHORUS. There is a distinction observed between the house of Onesiphorus and Onesiphorus himself. With regard to the house of Onesiphorus they are objects of present interest. Blessings are invoked upon them in the sixteenth verse, to the manifest exclusion of Oncsiphorus himself. At the close of the Epistle the same thing is observable: “Salute the house of Onesiphorus.” With regard to Onesiphorus himself, nothing is said about his present: the past tense is used of him, and a wish is expressed about his future. It may, therefore, be regarded as certain that Onesiphorus was dead.

1. Interest in departed friends shown in kindness to beloved ones left behind. “The Lord grant mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus.” There are around us the three circles of lovers, friends, acquaintances (Psa 88:18). Our love to the innermost circle is to be most intense, which it can be without interfering with our love to the second circle of friends. The proper cultivation of our affections in our homes will the better qualify us for loving our friends. There is an absence of reserve, and openness to influence, in friendship, which makes it, when properly based, a great blessing. There are duties which we owe to our friends when they are with us, and our duties do not end with their death. Onesiphorus had been the friend of Paul, and, now that he is gone, the large-hearted apostle, in writing to Timothy from his dungeon, breathes a prayer on behalf of the house of Onesiphorus. The Lord, i.e. Jesus Christ, the great Overseer of the Churches, and Appointer for the several households of which the Churches are composed, grant them mercy. They were objects of sympathy, in being deprived of their earthly head on whom it devolved to provide for them, to assist and counsel especially the beginners in life. The Lord mercifully make up for them what they had lost. Would this prayer return from heaven unanswered? Would not this kindly remembrance of them, read in their desolate home, bring good cheer to their hearts, and be an influence for good in all their future life? Would it not also be the means of raising up friends for them?

2. Interest in the living founded on the past kindness of the dead. “For he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but, when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and found me.” This was after his first answer, apparently during his second imprisonment, when awaiting his second answer. Paul leaned very much on human sympathy. On one occasion he said, “The Lord that comforteth them that are cast down, comforted me by the coming of Titus.” So the Lord refreshed him by those visits of Onesiphorus. This friend was true to his name; he was a real help bringerbringer of comfort and strength to the great warrior whose battles were nearly over. He was a helper in presence of difficulties. He was not ashamed of his chain, i.e. braved all the dangers connected with his being regarded as the prisoner’s friend. There was difficulty of access to him, such as there had not been during the first imprisonment, when he had his own hired house, and received all that came to him; but Onesiphorus sought him all the more diligently that he knew of his unbefriended condition, and overcame all official hindrances. In the strange working of providence, Onesiphorus came to his end before Paul, but his good deeds lived after him, and caused him to be remembered by Paul, and in that form which, had he been conscious of what was taking place on earth, would have been most pleasing to Onesiphorus. And this was not to be wondered at. Onesiphorus loved his home circlethis is an element in the case; but it did not absorb all his attention. He had a place in his heart for friends, and was ready to render them services. And this was acting more truly for the interests of his loved ones than if he had selfishly confined his attention to them. For when he was gonetaken away at a time when he was greatly needed by his childrenthere were those who were their well wishers for the father’s sake. There was the missionary, by whom there had been so much benefit, invoking his blessing on them. The psalmist says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” And this can be explained without bringing in a special miracle. Indeed, the psalmist so explains it in the following verse: “He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.” That is to say, by his good deeds when he is alive, he raises up friends for his children when he is dead.

3. Interest in departed friends shown in pious wishes with respect to their future. “The Lord grant unto him to find mercy of the Lord in that day.” The following is to be noted as the teaching of Luther: “We have no command from God to pray for the dead, and therefore no one can sin who does not pray for them. For in what God has neither commanded nor forbidden, no man can sin. Yet because God has not granted us to know the state of the soul, and we must be uncertain about it, thou dost not sin that thou prayest for the dead, but in such wise that thou leave it in doubt and say thus, ‘If this soul be in that state that thou mayest yet help it, I pray thee to be gracious unto it.’ Therefore if thou hast prayed once or thrice, thou shouldest believe that thou art heard, and pray no more, lest thou tempt God.” Beyond that Paul does not go. He follows Onesiphorus into the next world, and, when he thinks of him coming to the settling for what his earthly life had been, he devoutly breathes the wish that he may be mercifully dealt with. Such an expression of feeling is not to be forbidden us as we think of departed friends going forward to judgment; it is to be found in inscriptions in the catacombs. But it has no connection with a belief in purgatory, and is very different from the formal inculcation of prayers for the dead.

4. Reference to Timothy as to services rendered by Onesiphorus at Ephesus. “And in how many things he ministered at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.” This was additional to services rendered by Onesiphorus to the apostle at Rome. He had not mentioned it before, because it had been within the sphere of Timothy’s own observation. But he brings it in now, as what was fitted to support the charge of constancy he is laying on Timothy.R.F.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

2Ti 1:1-2 . ] comp. on 1Ti 1:1 .

The words of this address are peculiar: ; they are not to be joined with , nor with the following , but with . . . in the N. T. constantly means “ the promise ;” it is incorrect to translate it here by “preaching;” comp. 1Ti 4:8 . Its object is the , the blessed life which “exists objectively, and is presented in Christ” (Wiesinger). The preposition shows that Paul’s apostleship stands in connection with this promise. Matthies defines this connection more precisely by saying that denotes the harmony between the plan of salvation, of which that is the chief element, and the apostleship. But it is more natural, and more in accordance with the passage in Tit 1:2 , to explain it, as does Theodoret, followed by de Wette and Wiesinger: , , so that directs attention to the purpose; see Winer, p. 376 [E. T. p. 502]. Otto contends that means “for the purpose,” and that should be supplied. He explains it more generally: “in the matter of, in regard to,” with the remark: “Paul means to say that his apostolic office in its entire work is defined by that promise.” This explanation, however, comes back substantially to the former one, since the work of the apostolic office is specially the . Hofmann explains as equivalent to “in consequence of,” in the sense, viz., that the promise of life forms the presupposition of Paul’s apostleship; but for this there is no support in usage; besides, it is self-evident that without that promise of life there would be no apostleship. 2Ti 1:2 . ] , in distinction from , 1Ti 1:2 and Tit 1:4 , does not indicate a greater confidence, nor even blame, as if Timothy, by showing a want of courageous faith, no longer deserved the name (Mack).

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

I
Superscription and Salutation

2Ti 1:1-2

1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the 2promise1 of life which is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy my dearly beloved2 Son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

2Ti 1:1. By the will of God, . In the First Epistle the phrase is, by the commandment of God. The is the fruit of the , and the choice of this latter word in this place is to be explained perhaps thus: The Apostle, in view of his approaching end, in Christian resignation, felt the need of directing his attention to His will, who, according to His own eternal counsels, had led him along this pathway (comp. Gal 1:15-16). Psychologically, also, it is worthy of remark, how, in the opening of this last communication, in the very face of death, he places in the foreground the promise of life in Christ Jesus.According to the promise of life, &c., . We believe that in this way we can best render the sense of this enigmatical . It is known how these words hare been variously explained in all periods. Luther has, according to the promise; De Wette, for the promise (or promising) of life, which by itself, without farther comment, is scarcely intelligible; others, still, interpret otherwise. In any event, something in the way of thought must be supplied. Certainly, they who maintain that here cannot mesa proclamation, but promise only, are in the right. Yet expresses necessarily the object of the apostolical function of Paul. Paul can be named, however, an Apostle for the promise of life, only from the consideration that he is called, through the will of God, to the office of proclaiming this promise (comp. Winer, Gramm., p. 358).Promise of life is that promise the main substance of which is the true, eternal, and blessed life. What kind of life the Apostle here denotes, he states more particularly by the words, . . Since, indeed, this life is revealed and manifested personally in the Saviour, while in His fellowship it becomes the inheritance of all believers, so likewise is He the grand centre forth from which it streams without ceasing. It was the apostolic calling of Paul to set forth this life constantly; and just herein lies the power of proclaiming the gospelits main substance being a promise of life, as the sinner needs it, and which he seeks in vain apart from Christ.

2Ti 1:2. Dearly beloved son, . Certainly it is arbitrary to wish to find in the Apostles use of this adjective, instead of (1Ti 1:2), a proof that Timothy no longer deserved that honorable epithet, on account of an open defect in the temper of his faith (Mack). 2Ti 1:5 establishes the contrary. The reason why this Word is here used, in our judgment admits of a very simple explanation. The Apostle, feeling that he must soon be separated, speaks in a more affectionate tone than before, and it is better suited to the wholly more subjective character of this second Epistle; which view is incorrectly questioned by Huther. It was not so much in the mind of the Apostle to bear honorable witness to Timothy, as to express the inwardness of the relation in which both stood to each other.Grace, mercy, &c. See remarks upon 1Ti 1:2.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. By describing the gospel as a promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, the characteristic distinction between it and the law is strikingly brought out, and its high, ali-surpassing worth at the same time is shown.

2. The gospel is no abstract system of doctrine by the side of or even higher than other systems, but it is a revelation of the life which is manifest in Christ, and which through Christ is conveyed to the sinner. In this particular Paul and John agree (comp. 1Jn 1:2). The high scope of the manifestation of Christ was not that He might communicate to the spirit of man even a new wealth in religious ideas, but that he might give to the heart of the sinner, lying in spiritual death, the treasure of a new life (Eph 2:1). But such a communication of life to the sinner, through Christ, is something inconceivable as long as one hesitates to acknowledge the true Godhead of the Lord (comp. Joh 1:1-4).

3. The tranquillity with which Paulas we behold him not only in this opening of, but throughout the entire Epistlecontemplated death, is not only convincing proof of his true greatness, but it has also apologetic value. The tone of the Apostle furnishes proof alike of the glory of the gospel, and the mighty working of the power of God in His feeble servants.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Paul prepared to write the testament of love for his spiritual son and brother.Paul remains true to his holy calling even unto death (comp. Mat 24:13; Rev 2:10).The unwavering certainty of the Apostle in respect of his call to apostleship: (1) Its foundation; (2) its noble value.Ministry in the gospel is no function of death, but a proclamation of life in Christ Jesus.Eternal life for the Christian is in part something actual, and in part something future.The communion of saints.The high value of spiritual ties superior to those of flesh and blood.God the Father communicates His highest gifts of grace to us, not otherwise than in personal fellowship with Christ.

Starke: Bibl. Wrt.: All true teachers are spiritual fathers of their Christian and devout hearers (1Co 4:15).Cramer: Teachers and scholars should love one another as parents and children (2Co 12:15; 1Th 5:13).

Von Gerlach: Life in Christ is to the Apostle, standing at the end of his course, even in view of the last, most bitter conflict, of the utmost moment.

Footnotes:

[1]2Ti 1:1.[Cod. Sin. has .E. H.]

[2]2Ti 1:2.[The recepta, and all modern critical editions, have a fullpoint after .E. H.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

Paul Opens his Epistle in his usual Manner professeth his great Love to Timothy: admonisheth him on the great Offices of the Ministry; and treats of many blessed Truths of the Gospel.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, (2) To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (3) I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; (4) Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; (5) When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. (6) Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (7) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (8) Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

There is somewhat very striking, in what the Apostle here saith, of the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. Let the Reader notice it, for it is well worthy his notice. Here is life, that is, eternal life. And this is promised: not to be attained. It is of grace, a free gift, an unconditional gift, wholly of grace, and in distinction to works; in distinction to the law, and in opposition to it. And it is in Christ Jesus. Christ himself is life, and life eternal; and He himself is the promise. Hence, his seed, his children, are called heirs of promise, and heirs of eternal life in Christ Jesus. Heb 6:17 ; Rom 8:17 . These are precious things. And Paul puts Timothy in remembrance of them, by way of stirring up this gift of God, which was in him. I do not in this Poor Man’s Commentary wish to dwell upon things of lesser moment, having objects of an higher nature to regard. Paul’s desiring to see Timothy, and his remembrance of Timothy’s relations, with an account of their characters; these are things which have long since passed away, and with which we have nothing to do. Being limited, therefore, to compress what I have to offer on these holy scriptures, into as narrow a space as possible; I wholly wish to confine my humble observations, to the more important points of doctrine, which the Holy Ghost hath graciously recorded, in these inspired writings.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

2Ti 1:5

St. Basil the Great owed his earliest religious education to his grandmother Macrina, who brought him up with his brothers, and formed them upon the doctrine of the great Origenist and saint of Pontus, Gregory Thaumaturgus. Canon Travers Smith wrote in his Life of St. Basil: ‘Macrina had not only been taught by the best Christian instructors, but had herself with her husband suffered for the faith. In the persecutions of Maximin she and her family were driven from their home and forced with a few companions to take refuge in a forest among the mountains of Pontus, where they spent nearly seven years, and were wont to attribute to the special interposition of God the supplies of food by which they were maintained at a distance from all civilisation.

‘It must not be supposed that the charge of Basil’s childhood thus committed to his grandmother indicated any deficiency in love or piety on the part of his mother. Her name was Emmelia, and Gregory describes her as fitly matched with her husband. They had ten children. Of the five sons three became bishops Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter of Sebaste.’

References. I. 6. J. Keble, Sermons for Septuagesima to Ash Wednesday, p. 323. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii. No. 1080.

A Call to Christian Courage

2Ti 1:7

Here we have the true Spirit of a Christian set forth in three particulars, and each of these is an antidote to timidity.

I. God has given us the Spirit of power. Herein lies our fitness for whatsoever form our witness-bearing ought to take. The consciousness of inward strength removes all fear. It is said, ‘The world belongs to those who have courage’; then the saints ought to possess it, and it is because of their cowardice, if they do not.

II. God has given us the Spirit of love. Thus He has brought us into sympathy and fellowship with Himself, for God is love. If conscience make cowards of us all, a good conscience should make us fearless.

III. God has given us the Spirit of a sound mind. As opposed to the madness and folly of sin, religion is a return to the true reason, sound judgment, and right action. (1) A sound mind is a mind evenly balanced. (2) A sound mind is candid, open to all the truth and eager to gather it from all quarters. (3) A sound mind controls the life, and thus ensures true Christian temperance. (4) A sound mind gains, often quite imperceptibly, a great influence over other minds.

C. O. Eldridge, The Preacher’s Magazine, vol. VI. p. 81.

2Ti 1:7

The last words written by Lady Dilke, which close her Book of the Spiritual Life, run thus: ‘To their solemn music, the fateful years unroll the great chart in which we may trace the hidden mysteries of the days, and behold those foreshadowings of things to come towards which we know ourselves to be carried by inevitable steps not gladly, indeed, but with that full and determined consent with which the brave accept unflinchingly the fulfilment of law and fate. “For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”‘

References. I. 7. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. vi. p. 93. Expositor (6th Series), vol. xi. p. 204 I. 8. J. Baines, Sermons, p. 168.

2Ti 1:9

What needs admitting, or rather proclaiming, by agnostics who would be just is, that the Christian doctrine has a power of cultivating and developing saintliness which has had no equal in any other creed or philosophy.

J. Cotter Morison, in The Service of Man (ch. VII.).

References. I. 9. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii. No. 703. Expositor (4th Series), vol. i. p. 33.

The Promise of Life

2Ti 1:10

I presume most of you either own or have seen a print of Millet’s picture, ‘L’Angelus,’ which represents a French peasant and his wife resting momentarily from their work in the field to join in prayer at the sound of the vesper bell, and some of you may know the exquisite use to which the late Henry Drummond put this picture in his address on work and love and worship. I shall take these three elements of life though there is a fourth at which the picture hints but faintly, and of which Drummond said nothing the element of suffering. And I shall try to remind you how, under a Christian interpretation, these drive our minds toward the life that is life indeed.

I. Let us look first at work, which for most of us means three-quarters of our life, the returning toil of each new day, much of it sordid and monotonous; can it possibly be made to speak to us of the eternal life?

Work, when it is Christianly interpreted, drives our minds toward the thought of the life essentially continuous with this, while in its accidents different. It is this thought that is the climax of St Paul’s reason in his famous resurrection chapter, 1 Cor. xv., for after his triumphant hymn of praise because of our victory over death, he brings the whole argument to a climax in reminding us that it is now worth while our working if our work be in line with God’s work, for our work here leads into life beyond, ‘wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, immovable always, abounding in the work of the Lord; for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord’ i.e. such work as you do here show forth God must have its crown of fulfilment in the land where His glory specially rests.

II. It is in the attachment of heart to heart that men have found the most powerful presage of immortality, and poets in all ages have with almost frenzied certitude proclaimed their conviction that love is stronger than death. Where love is, God is; and where God is, life must ever be. If our love be drawn from Christ’s there may be sacrifice before it, but never separation. For if our love be baptised into the spirit of Christ, it is taken up into His life and cannot die. This is not subjective conviction: this is not mysticism, this is New Testament doctrine, the very essence and foundation of the last writings of St John, the final interpreter to us in point of time of the incarnation of Jesus Christ our Lord.

III. It is, however, only when we pass to worship that the promise of eternal life becomes irresistible. For consider what worship is. Worship is a reciprocal movement between the human spirit and God; it consists, that is to say, of our upward aspirations and God’s stooping responses. Worship is friendship between God and man; but think for a moment what it means for the Eternal God to enter into friendly relations with any one. His friendships are not capricious, but partake of His own eternal nature; in other words, they endow those who are the subjects of this friendship with His own immortality.

Now consider how Jesus Christ interpreted and transfigured this experience of worship; through Him it becomes possessed of certain characteristics that emphasise the certitude of the eternal life; for example, it becomes through Him a life of filial intimacy; and sonship carries with it the promise of home. Our filial aspirations, as has been said, are the earliest part of us; there is a sequence of thought which it is almost impossible to escape in the sentences: ‘Now are we the sons of God,’ and ‘It doth not yet appear what we shall be’. As we experience it here, the adoption of sons involves the certain hope of a home-coming to God.

Work, love, worship these, then, Christianly understood, are promises, of eternal life.

IV. And what of suffering? Without its Christian interpretation it is but an emphasis on life’s transiency. When we suffer, it is all that binds us to the physical, that is, that comes to the front of our thoughts the pains and disabilities of the body, prospect of dissolution and bereavement.

As sufferers we are the subject of change, and so Buddha read the fact of suffering; it was to him one of the facts that pointed to the desirability of escape from the terrors of self-conscious life. So far from containing within itself any promise of immortality, it was one of the facts that made him long for the cessation of consciousness and of desire. But Christ has transformed all that. He interpreted suffering and so moulded the sufferers who believe in Him that often it is Christian sufferers for whom the veil is worn the thinnest between this life and the life that is to be, so that they become preachers of the land of far distances, and bring the eternal order within our view. It is, of course, Christ’s own sufferings that have thus suffused all other pain with the heavenly glow; it is in Him that suffering supremely bears the promise and potency of immortality.

G. A. Johnston Ross, Christian World Pulpit, vol. LXXVII. p. 257.

2Ti 1:10

‘I myself,’ says Thomas Boston in his Memoirs, ‘have been several times, on this occasion, taking a view of death; and I have found that faith in God through Christ makes another world not quite strange.’

References. I. 10. Eynon Davies, Sermons by Welshmen, p. 327. The Record, vol. xxvii. p. 756. E. Bersier, Sermons in Paris, p. 230. J. C. M. Bellew, Sermons, vol. i. p. 351. J. H. Holford, Memorial Sermons, p. 37. T. Binney, King’s Weigh-House Chapel Sermons, p. 41. Expositor (5th Series), vol. v. p. 389.

Doctrine and Life

2Ti 1:12

I. The Importance of Right Doctrine. The most living Christian experience, if it is to be better than unauthorised, unverifiable fancy or feeling, is in its essence connected with revealed doctrine. Without that warrant, the warmest emotions about God, or Christ, may have no solidity of fact beneath them. Not that every believer must, or can, enter into the same fulness of doctrinal truth. But some doctrine the little believing child must have, and the old believing cottager who cannot read. To know Whom they trust they must know about Him; they must know something of the doctrine of the Son of God. We may carry our advocacy of the claims of doctrine too far, but our present risk is the very opposite. It is to regard persons more than truths, teachers than teaching. It is to make moral earnestness the first thing and the last It is to look for the glory of God somewhere else than in the face of Jesus Christ, as that face is seen in the mirror of the Word, in the light of the Spirit I plead, then, for the supreme importance of sound and solid doctrine, of clear views, of what is revealed about Christ

a. His person and His work.

b. His sacrificial blood.

c. His indwelling life.

d. His intercession above.

II. We Turn to the Necessity, the Bliss, of a Personal Acquaintance with the Living Lord Jesus Christ. We have looked awhile on what some may call the ‘dry bones’ of doctrine, but which are in fact the vertebrae of the backbone of life. But now we look again at St. Paul’s words, and we embrace the blessedness of a personal knowledge of not it, but Him. If we would live, if our Christianity is not to be a synonym for barren mental speculation, or somewhat commonplace philanthropy, or merely carnal contentiousness, or, worst of all, a cloak for a life of entire and complacent selfishness, then we must know Him and abide in Him. Among the doctrines of the faith is this, that if I know all mysteries, and have not holy love, I am nothing; and that, on the other hand, Christ can dwell in my heart by faith, by the work of the strengthening Spirit. Who shall describe the happiness of direct personal acquaintance with Him, as it were behind (not without) all thinking, and all work, which thought and work He yet can fill and can use? It is the reality of realities.

a. In it the most advanced and instructed believer, and the most timid beginner in the life of faith, alike have part and lot.

b. It gives wings of light to the highest musings and most accurate studies of the believing theologian.

c. It warms and sweetens the arduous tasks of the believing toiler for the souls and bodies and homes of men.

d. It smiles on the dying bed of the little child, and refuses to fall out of the aged mind, which drops everything else in its palsy.

A few years ago, in India, died a little native boy, of twelve years old. Almost unawares he had learned the doctrine, and had found the Lord. Too weak to converse, almost too weak apparently to think, he twice over, at the last, folded his skeleton hands, and slowly repeated those unfathomable words, ‘The Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ’.

The Assured Knowledge of the Personal Saviour

2Ti 1:12

I. This Knowledge is Personal in its Object.

Evidently the Apostle intended to emphasise the actual personality of the Object of his faith. Christianity is not creed, not document, not church, not Sacrament; Christianity is Christ, Christ is Christianity. But you ask, ‘Is it possible for me to know Christ in this positive manner? He is no longer on earth. How, then, may I know Him?’ Probably the Apostle Paul had never seen Christ in the flesh; he had seen Him in vision only. True knowledge of persons is never obtained through the organs of outward sense. (1) Paul knew Christ through the organ of faith. The margin reads, ‘I know Him whom I have trusted’. (2) By love. Paul gave his heart to Christ It is the lover always who knows. (3) By obedience. As Robertson long ago remarked: ‘Obedience is an organ of spiritual knowledge’. He who will do the will of God shall know. (4) By suffering. Evermore there is a knowledge of Christ sweeter, deeper, more blessed than all other which comes to the believer when he suffers with Christ and for Christ

II. This Knowledge Inspires at once a Noble Character and Life. As the generations pass the character of the Apostle Paul shines out with ever-increasing glory. The secret of that wonderful character was, according to his own testimony, his faith in Jesus Christ. Thus to know Christ in this positive manner, to wrap the roots of the heart around Him, to draw the sap of life from Him, is to have life cut off from all that is sordid, earthly, and selfish, and transfigured with the glory of the Lord.

III. This Knowledge Inspires Calmness in Trial and Confidence in Death. Amid the shocks of temporal disaster, or when fierce fires of persecution burn around us or when cruel wrongs oppress the soul, or when the heart is wrung with parting pangs, and we have to kiss cold lips, and bid the long goodbye; or when fell diseases smite us low, and blot out all the hope of life we are kept in perfect peace if only we know Him. When we come to the mystery of death, the only thing which will give us calmness and confidence is the assured knowledge of Him who is evermore the Resurrection and the Life.

J. Tolefree Parr, The White Life, p. 59.

2Ti 1:12

If you have had trials, sickness, and the approach of death, the alienation of friends, poverty at the heels, and have not felt your soul turn round upon these very things and spurn them under you must be very differently made from me, and, I earnestly believe, from the majority of men.

R. L. Stevenson.

References. I. 12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No. 271. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. p. 171. S. H. Fleming, Fifteen Minute Sermons for the People, p. 194. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 908. John Watson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lix. p. 299. T. A. Cox, Penny Pulpit, No. 1484, p. 9. W. M. Sinclair, Difficulties of our Day, p. 158. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of St. Paul, p. 276. J. D. Jones, Elims of Life, p. 220. John Watson, The Inspiration of our Faith, p. 214. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 36. A. W. Hutton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. p. 328. Expositor (4th Series), vol. x. p. 190. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Timothy, p. 16.

The Two Trusts

2Ti 1:12 ; 2Ti 1:14

You will observe that these two sayings are in one point identical. They express the one great thought of the Christian life, in its twofold aspect the thought of Christ’s faithfulness to us, and of our answering fidelity to Him. In both there is the idea of a weighty and solemn trust of something that has unspeakable value committed to the keeping of another, left under his watchful guard, which he is pledged to defend at all cost. Let me set it briefly before you: Christ’s loving demand that we shall keep that which He has committed to us; our joyous certainty that He will guard for evermore that which we have committed to Him.

I. First, Jet us think of what He has entrusted to us. Paul calls it that good or that beautiful thing; and we say in brief that it is twofold the name of Jesus and the faith of Jesus. (1) He has left His pure, undefiled name in our keeping. When the crusader went off to the holy war, he left some sworn friend to fill his place to do what he would have done, to shield those whom he would have defended, and especially to answer all slanders that were uttered against the absent one, and maintain unsullied his pure reputation. In some such way the great Master has left us in charge. The whole Church is made responsible for the honour of her Lord, and every single disciple shares in the sacred trust. (2) He has committed to us what we call ‘The Faith,’ the body of truth and doctrine which He gave as His message from the Father, and which constitutes the heritage of the Church ‘the faith,’ to quote the saying which is often misused, but which we are never weary of repeating, ‘the faith once for all delivered to the Saints’. And how are we to keep it? To keep the faith is to live it We cannot be fairly said to hold any doctrine until we make it a part of our everyday life.

II. And now I speak of the other side of the Christian life, of that which relates to our trust in the King’s promise, and of His pledge to keep that which we have committed unto Him. There are certain things which we can do. We can defend the faith, we can maintain the honour of His name, we can preserve our own lives unspotted from the world. But then there remains a large province of things which enter into our deepest life, over which we have no power whatever, which we can but leave with blind, helpless, childlike trust in His loving, mighty hands. There is the future of the Church. There is our own and its results, its rewards. Then, further, there is our own immortality. And, finally, there are our beautiful affections, the friendships which we have cultivated with so much care and cherished with such ardent solicitude, which we have woven about our souls until they have become an inseparable part of our souls. Let us keep our trust, and be assured that He will keep His.

J. G. Greenhough, The Cross in Modern Life, p. 178.

References. I. 12-14. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii. No. 1913. I. 13. A. H. Sayce, Christian World Pulpit. vol. lviii. p. 241. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii. No. 79. R. W. Hiley, A Year’s Sermons, vol. iii. p. 314. Expositor (5th Series), vol. vi. p. 385. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Timothy, p. 26. I. 13, 14. G. Body, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. p. 233. I. 14. H. S. Holland, ibid. vol. lix. p. 380.

A Friend in Need

2Ti 1:16

This letter, many scholars think, may have been penned on the very eve of the great Apostle’s death. We seem to have a premonition of the end in that brave verse of the fourth chapter: ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith’. Our text, therefore, has in it something of the peculiar weight and intensity that ofttimes characterise parting words of the dying. St. Paul was never prone to indiscriminate praise or blame. He had greater matters in hand than the strewing of compliments even upon his coadjutors in the proclamation of the Christian Gospel. Hence we may assume that the singularly cordial words he speaks of Onesiphorus are the product of deep and manly feeling.

Onesiphorus means bringer of help; so that in this instance at least name and nature coincide; for it was the promptness and the richness of the help he brought that went to Paul’s heart.

I. First, then, consider Onesiphorus in the rle of a Christian friend. One of the qualities in him which these verses specially underline is, you will note, the consistency of his helpfulness.

(1) Two features, I imagine, in Onesiphorus’ conduct at Rome touched St. Paul with peculiar gratitude. In the first place, he took pains to help his friend. ‘He sought me out very diligently, and found me.’

The main thing required to make us helpful is not sentiment, but action.

(2) Then besides that, Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul; and that memory the Apostle treasured with a rare depth of gratitude. Evidently he was used to having people ashamed of him. It was all part of being a Christian. But to treat him so never crossed the other’s mind. To know St. Paul was the pride of Onesiphorus’ life. So far from being ashamed or afraid to be seen in his cell, I have no doubt he grew positively elated over his success in finding him.

II. Note secondly, how much this kindness meant to Paul. No one had ever lived more completely human than the Apostle to the Gentiles. The desire for friendship became at times with him almost a physical craving. It is not to be imagined that he always lived upon the heights, on the blue altitudes, for example, to which he soars in Colossians or Ephesians. No; there were hours of loneliness and sorrow, when in his dejection he would have given all he had for the voice of a loved friend, and a look from his kindly eyes. So think of the shock of pleasure that came to the solitary captive when one day his cell-door swung back, and in strode this trusty henchman, all the way from Asia. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

III. Lastly, note how St. Paul repaid the other’s kindness. In one word, he prayed for him; he took his name in love to the throne of God; and this is the best recompense any of us can make for sympathy or help. Says a saint of the seventeenth century, writing to an acquaintance who lived by habit in fellowship with God: ‘When you have the King’s ear, remember me’; and surely each of us has at least one friend from whom we also might beg this kindness.

H. R. Mackintosh, Life on God’s Plan, p. 73.

Reference. I. 18. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vi. p. 888.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Paul’s Last Letter

2 Timothy 1-4

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God” ( 2Ti 1:1-8 ).

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory”( 2Ti 2:1-3 , 2Ti 2:7-10 ).

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” ( 2Ti 4:7-8 ).

This is the last letter, by general consent of all Christian students, that the Apostle wrote. It has been called his last will and testament. To read the will of Paul! what an advantage, what an honour, what an opportunity! This is our privilege to-day. How will Paul conclude? cannot but be an exciting question. What will Paul do at the close of his last letter? will he be weary? will he write like an old man? will he modify any of his doctrinal positions? Will he say, If I had my time to live over again I would not be so bold, so self-sacrificing; I would take more care of myself; I would live an easier life? Or will he at the last be as ardent and soldier-like and tremendous as ever? Paul was always great. He could not help this quality. There was something in him which he did not create and which he cultivated and studied to express on the largest lines with the most graphic definiteness. Perhaps Paul could not write like an old man, because he was writing to a comparative child. It is wonderful how he loved the young. Because of his love of the young he himself was never old, except in years: never in feeling. The man who knows that he is going to be born into heaven at any moment cannot be old. This is the spirit of the New Testament. There is not an old thing in it; it is verily New new because it is old: a contradiction in. words but a fact in experience. Old, old time always has had and always will have a new morning. No man ever saw this day before, and it is just as bright and sweet a flower as the Lord ever grew on the acres of time. So the New Testament is always up to date. You cannot out-pray it. Though you bribe genius to write some new supplication it falls back from the effort, saying, It was all done before I was born. No man can add anything to the New Testament that is of the same quality. He can expand it, but the plasm must be found in the book. Men can grow flowers, but they must grow them out of something they had to begin with. So this Paul and his Testament are always writing to oncoming Timothies: it is a great speech to the coming men, a mighty military charge to the infant soldiers of the world. To read the last will and testament of Paul! Let us hasten to it; every word will be music.

After the “Amen” of Timothy, tradition, not history, follows Paul away, sees him fall down before the execution, sees the uplifted flashing sword, sees the venerable head rolling in the dust. It was a grand Amen “it may be that only in heaven we shall hear the grand Amen.” How stood the old man at the last? Bravely? Tell us, ye that saw him, how he looked: did he tremble, did he apologise, did he ask for mercy? The account is before us. It never could have been such an ending, but for the great ribwork of principles round about the man, and in which he lived. This Epistle is full of doctrine, great ideas, solemn principles, burning convictions. He is not drinking out of some silver goblet of scented sentiment; he refreshes himself at the fountains of divinest blood. Oh, ye white-faced, weak-kneed, believers! believers in what? ye shifty speculators, stealers of prophetic mantles! go, drink yourselves to death, and go to your proper devil: ye are not the Church of Christ, might well be the speech which ascended Pauls might deliver to us, as we re-shuffle the theological cards, and rearrange our credenda, and modify and dilute our doctrinal positions and enthusiasms.

We have Paul in this Epistle in all the wondrous undulation of his personality. How he rises, falls, rises again; and again, like waves, falls and breaks and returns! all the while in the sublimest action. He will write a letter to Timothy, “my dearly beloved son”; he will have a family page in the letter. Paul was no loose thinker; all his thought, how tumultuously soever it was expressed, went back to centres, to fixed points; tethered to these fixities, he allowed himself almost eccentric liberty. He is an unhappy man who is not fixed anywhere. Paul turned over Timothy’s history, and he remembered Timothy’s grandmother, and Timothy’s mother, and said, you are as good as both of them put together: you seem almost to be an inheritor of faith. Some men are born in libraries: what if they should turn out learned students? Some of us were not born in a library, we must not be blamed because we have not any literature; we would have read, but we had no books to read. Some men are born in gardens: what if their raiment be odorous with the fragrance of choicest flowers? Some were born in the wilderness, and never saw a flower until they were quite grown men. The Lord will judge us accordingly. Do not be downhearted because you had no grandmother and mother in Christ. You may start the new generation. God knows where you began and how, and he will reckon it all up at the last, and many are last that shall be first, some are first that shall be last. Yet Paul will have a hand in this family history. Our pastors come into our houses; our bishops are part of our family genealogy. The pastor is a member of every family; no family is complete until its bishop is there; if not in person, yet in remembrance and in love. This is the wonderful charm of the true ministry, that it is free to every honest house Paul says, “Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee, by the putting on of my hands.” Literally, Fan the flame; or, fan the little spark: it is only a little red spark indeed, but breathe upon it, softly, more quickly, very carefully; blow again yes, see how it brightens, whitens, glows! blow again stir up the gift that is in thee. All fire is of God. There is no earthly Pentecost; the earth will not grow fire. How was the gift communicated? “by the putting on of my hands.” Dear hands! speaking hands! clean hands! There is a touch that makes us men: there is a handshaking that haunts us as a misery, cold, pithless, soulless, and we say, Would God we had never seen that man! There is another that makes us forget ten years in a moment, and recover all our lamps and lights, and makes us strong. There is a magnetic touch: every bishop ought to have it; every minister of God truly called and divinely elected has it.

The mystery of touch has never been explained. Jesus touched the leper; Jesus touched the sightless eyes: Jesus touched the little child: Jesus touched the bread which he broke. In his touch was life. We can so touch the Saviour as to get from him everything we want. He said, “Somebody hath touched me.” The disciples said, “Seest how the people throng around thee, and sayest thou, Who hath touched me? why, we are all touching thee.” No, said Christ, you are not: somebody hath touched me. Do not imagine that approximation to Christ is enough. Do not imagine that formal prayer is sufficient. Never give way to the sophism that because you have been to church, therefore you have been pious, or good in any sense. A man may go to church, and get nothing there, and in the proportion in which he gets nothing will he blame those who minister in the church! it will never occur to him that he is a dead dog, and even the lightnings would not touch him.

What is Timothy to do? He is, in the first place, not to be “ashamed.” Appearances are against him and against Paul. Virtue is in gaol, Nero is on the throne, Rome is alive with the devil: Paul says, this is a time, my son, when we must look up in confidence and love and hope. In the next place, Timothy is to “Hold fast,” grip well, make every finger serve, “keep” something. What? “That good thing which was committed unto thee.” The action is that of a child who having a very precious toy or treasure is going to rest or is going from home, and says to the strong father or mother or friend, Take this and keep it for me. What has the child done? The child has committed the treasure to the custody of tested strength. Paul says to Timothy, “Hold fast… that good thing which was committed unto thee by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us,” for if we can commit our souls to God, God can commit his truth to us: what we have to do is to “hold fast.” It would be a poor account to give, if we told the Holy Ghost at the last that we were busy here and there, and some thief came and took the casket with the jewel. The Apostle was an eccentric writer; his was a rough-and-ready style in many instances. He came down from the mountain at a bound, and went back again at one stride. Nobody could ever tell where he was. He is no favourite with the critics. So Paul comes down now from all these high charges, and says, I do not only remember those who have gone away from me, but I remember one who was always kind to me, an Ephesian merchant, Onesiphorus by name “he oft refreshed me”: literally and singularly, he often poured cold water on me. That is to say, the Apostle was footsore, and Onesiphorus came to him with the cold refreshing water and bathed his feet, or the Apostle’s head was burning with fever, and Onesiphorus dipped his generous hands into the cool stream, and bathed the throbbing temples. “He oft refreshed me, and was not afraid of my chain;” some of his kind water fell upon the iron. “When he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently,” therefore he wanted to find me, “and found me.” We can always find our friends if we want to. You went out to give some dole to the poor, and the impression was made upon your mind that the poor soul was out, and therefore you went no farther. You could have found him if you wished. What would Paul have done to this merchant of Ephesus? “The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day:” he found me may the Lord find him! This was not an occasional attention “in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.” Why, Paul, hadst thou such a memory of detail? What about saintly passion, apostolic enthusiasm, the holy fury that absorbs the soul? All that, saith Paul, is perfectly consistent with remembering every cup of cold water that was given to me. If so wondrous a thing to serve Paul, what must it be to serve Paul’s Master?

What more is Timothy to be or to do? “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” A wonderful, double expression: “strong in the grace” mighty in the beauty valiant in the gentleness: grow flowers on the rock. And not only so thyself, Timothy, but keep up a good succession of men: “The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also,” a very delicate business; quite a refined profession. No. What, then? This: “Thou, therefore, endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” This was a wonderful ministry in the matter of complexity: now so severe, now so gentle and enjoyable; now a ride behind fleet horses on a summer day, now a climbing of rocky mountains where there is no path, and where one has to be made by the poor toiling climber himself. “Endure hardness:” what right had Paul to say that? The right of chapter 2Ti 2:10 “Therefore I endure.” This was Paul’s right. We have no right to say, Go: we have some right, where we can use it, to say, Come. Timothy was young; Timothy therefore was exposed to intellectual ambition and temptation. Paul knew all this, and he said, “Shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness”: shun old wives’ fables; have nothing to do with mere word-splitting, it tendeth to more and more ungodliness: keep to great principles. “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his:” Timothy, keep to that which is sure. The word “sure” has been etymologically traced to a Hebrew word which means rock; therefore Paul would say to his dearly beloved son Timothy, Stand on the rock: I do not say do not sometimes launch out into the deep, and see what is beyond the rolling waves, but have a rock to return to.

Now he passes on through various exhortations, almost military, always episcopal, always noble and generous, and then he says at last, Now hear me: I want you to come; I would like to see some young life. An old man gets sometimes almost tired of his own shadow. “Do thy diligence to come” put off anything that can be put off, and make haste to come to me: I want to shake hands with young life, one look at thy young face would make me forget my old age. “Come before winter;” winter is bad almost anywhere, but oh! how wintry is winter in gaol a great fortress like this. And bring the old skin with thee, the cloke; it gets cold about the time of the year when I expect thee: I like the old skin, it is an old friend of mine; it has stood me in good stead; I do not know that I should care for a new coat: bring the cloke. And the few books: a man like me cannot do without something to read; bring the parchments, the notebooks, the student’s memoranda. To have these to-day! Paul’s very notes, Paul’s lines written by his own hand. He never did much with his own hand in the way of writing, for he was a man who suffered much with an affliction of the eyes; but he did write some little pieces of parchment, and nobody perhaps could read them but himself. He wanted them all with him. It was not much young life, poor old skin to keep his shivering body warm, and the books and the parchments. What did he care for anything else? He said, I am done, so far as this world is concerned; I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown. In the meantime I only want a young soul, and an old sheepskin, and a book or two.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

2 TIMOTHY

XI

INTRODUCTION TO 2 TIMOTHY AND EXPOSITION OF 2Ti 1:1-6

2Ti 1:1-6

We now come to the second letter to Timothy, the last writing of Paul of which we have any account. In the general introduction to the pastoral epistles we have already considered the historical problem of Paul’s movements after his acquittal at Rome.

This letter finds him again at Rome and once more a prisoner, but under new charges and by a far different prosecution. Before, the Jews were his bitter accusers and the Roman judges his friends, but this time the persecution is heathen. Rome, in the person of that blood-crazed and beastly Caesar, Nero, now seeks his life. Seeking to avert condemnation for himself on account of his burning the Imperial City, and to divert thought from his own horrible brutalities, be charged Christians with burning the city. A conflagration of persecution greater than the ocean of flame which devoured the world’s metropolis is now kindled against Christians, and fanned by the flames of devilish passion spreads beyond the city to other shores and paints hell on the sky over the followers of Christ.

Croly, in his Salathiel , or Wandering Jew (which General Lew Wallace puts above all other human books), gives the most vivid description in all literature of the burning of Rome. It commences: “Rome was an ocean of flame.” Often when a school boy I have recited that matchless piece of rhetoric.

We now consider, I say, a more awful, wide-spreading fire, the moral arson of time, which finds no parallel until Alva’s day in the low countries of Belgium and Holland. Philip II of Spain, and Nero, in persecution and hypocrisy at least, are par nobile fratrum!

When Christians are fed to the wild beasts of the amphitheatre, when, like parallel lines of lampposts they are staked out, tarred, and set on fire, to form an illuminated avenue through which Nero may drive, then all sycophants, all imperial appointees, whether executors or judges, all spies through neighboring lands, will court royal favor by affecting his spirit and following his cue in accusing and persecuting them.

Thus the lightning struck Paul. Our last account of him is his direction to Titus, when relieved by Artemas or Tychicus, to join him in Nicopolis, where he proposed to winter. But in this letter he is urging Timothy to join him in the Roman prison before that very winter comes, and to bring his cloak left at Troas with Carpus, to keep him warm in his winter cell, and to bring his books and parchments to cheer his loneliness. Not now does he live with liberty in his own hired house, and preach to visiting crowds.

Two circumstances detailed in this letter vividly suggest the great change wrought by this first great heathen persecution. First, its effect on his summer friends in Asia Minor and Achaia. Second, its effect on his summer friends at Rome. It is now a death circle which environs Paul. Whoever abides near him courts imperial disfavor and death. It is as if a general surrounded by a numerous staff found himself the focus of a converging fire of a suddenly unmasked battery. What a scattering when the chief is struck! How vividly it recalls an earlier scene in the crisis of his Lord: “They all forsook him and fled.”

The thunder of the coming storm sounded in Asia, and at Ephesus.. Only after careful, long-continued study have I reached the conclusion that the beginning of this storm struck Paul at Ephesus. The usual argument against this opinion is Paul’s statement in Act 20 , when he bids the elders of the church at Ephesus goodbye at Miletus and says, “Knowing that you shall not see my face any more.” In the main they did not, but unquestionably we cannot understand this second letter to Timothy unless we conceive of Paul at Ephesus. The first letter shows that he wrote it to Timothy at Ephesus, and now he seems to have gotten back there.

How pathetic his own account of the situation, and how tragic his loneliness! He writes in this letter to Timothy: “This thou knowest that all that are in Asia are turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.” Now, it is a difficult thing to account for such a revolution toward. Paul in the place where his greatest labors were bestowed and his greatest triumphs achieved, and yet we must in some way account for it. There are three elements in the account:

1. The frown on Nero’s face toward Christians would take away from Paul, or any other Christian, sympathy and cooperation, or even justice on the part of Roman population.

2. Under the shadow of that frown, like wild beasts at night, come out the old Jewish opponents of Paul and attack him, the more incensed because of his recent letter to the Hebrews. So he says to Timothy: “Alexander, the coppersmith, displayed much evil behavior to me. The Lord will reward him according to his deeds, against whom be thou on thy guard also, for he strongly withstood our words.” Then in another part of the letter he mentions Hymeneus and Philetus, apostates from the faith whose words eat as a canker. In the great discourse at Miletus, years before, he had warned them that from among them should arise wolves, not sparing the flock. So long as Paul had Roman favor, they could not proceed to extremities against him, but now that Rome is persecuting Christians, all of these Judaizing teachers came out in bitterest opposition against Paul.

3. This is now about the year A.D. 68. In the year A.D. 70 Titus destroyed the city of Jerusalem, so at this time war was just about to break out in Judea between the Jews and the Romans. Josephus is in command in Galilee. We find a full account in his Jewish wars. The spirit that led them to revolt against Rome became exceedingly aggressive and proscriptive.

In Christ’s time a publican was hated because he gathered Roman revenue. Jerusalem was always like a boiling pot and any one recommending submission to the powers that he was intensely hated. Everywhere Paul taught that Christians should pray for and be obedient to those in authority. These injunctions of Paul would naturally be intensely resented by what was at that time called the patriotic part of the Jewish people, those who wanted to rebel against Rome; “pay no tribute,” they said, “but fight for natural freedom.”

These things, together with the announcement in Hebrews of the abrogation of the Old Covenant and the impending destruction of the nation, account for the change of sentiment toward Paul in Proconsular Asia. Not only Christian Jews but Gentiles would be cowed by imperial disfavor, and so Judaizing teachers on the outskirts of each congregation would press the point that he was untrue to his own country in advocating submission to Rome. So all Asia was turned against Paul.

Hymeneus and Philetus, apostates from the faith, whose words eat like a gangrene, resume their profane babbling and overthrow the faith of others. Indeed, Paul might have starved, had not Onesiphorus in many things ministered to him at Ephesus, with the cognizance of Timothy. When Paul left Ephesus, according to this letter, he left Timothy in tears: “When I remember your tears.” He first escaped to Miletus, a seaport, and from that place, in all probability, he hoped to get an outward bound ship that would take him far away. When he gets to Miletus, his staff begins to thin out.

He says, “Trophimus I left at Miletus sick, and Tychicus I sent back to Ephesus.” They at Ephesus, yet friendly, would want to know how he was getting along, and then, too, he wants to have somebody there to relieve Timothy, so that Timothy can join him. Finding no outward bound vessel, he, as may be conjectured, takes a coasting vessel for Troas, that from that port he may reach Europe across the Aegean Sea.

We infer that after reaching Troas he left it in a hurry. That is inferable from the fact that he left his books, parchments, and cloak, which constituted his bed as well as outer protection in bad weather. He reached Corinth, and there another adjutant dropped out: “Erastus abode at Corinth.” The staff keeps thinning.

Titus, it is possible, acting upon the letter sent him, has ‘joined him. Somewhere, perhaps in Achaia, the bolt struck him. It is now lightning where it had been thunder. Notice the effect: “Then Demas forsook me, having loved this present world.” Demas struck out for Thessalonica. It seems that to stay by Paul’s side meant the next world, and Demas loved this present world. Crescens turns back toward Galatia, and Titus toward Dalmatia, only Luke is with him.

See how his crowd has thinned out, and how it answers the illustration I gave of the general and his staff meeting suddenly the fire of a masked battery. I have seen such a thing on the battlefield myself, and the “scatteration” that takes place, leaving the general alone, where just before the staff is parading all around him.

It is even worse at the other end of the line, that is, at Rome. When he gets there no friendly delegation comes out to meet and encourage him. Men through fear of Nero’s deadly hate turn from Paul as from a leper. At his examining trial he stands alone: “In my first defense no one came to my help, but all forsook me. May it not be laid to their charge. But the Lord stood by me and empowered me, in order that through me the message might be fulfilled and all the Gentiles might hear.” That is, Paul cannot die until he completes the gospel for the nations that are alien from the commonwealth of Israel.

Though the Lord stood by him, the strain of loneliness was terrific, and the hunger for human sympathy and companionship. This scene recalls an incident in the life of our Lord after his hard doctrine discourse on the Bread of Life at Capernaum. The record says that many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more, and Jesus said therefore unto the twelve, “Would ye also go away?”

So Paul, in this dire case, with some trace of apprehension seems to plead: “Oh, Timothy, don’t you be ashamed of my chain; don’t you fail to guard the deposit of faith which God gave to you. Come to me quickly, before winter, I need my cloak and books. Bring them. Pick up Mark by the way and bring him.”

One ray of light shines in the gloom: Onesiphorus who had protected and supplied him in dangerous times at Ephesus, followed him all the way to Rome, hunts him up, and ministers to him many times, not being ashamed of Paul’s chains. No wonder Paul says to Timothy: “May the Lord have mercy on the household of Onesiphorus, and reward him in that day.” That was a plucky thing to do. There in Ephesus, when all Asia turned from him, Onesiphorus had said, “I will take care of you.” And when he heard that Paul had been arrested and taken to Rome, he leaves his home and his business and goes to Rome. It is hard to find Paul now, not as it was before. Doubtless at this time he is shut up in a cell, but Onesiphorus finds him, and Paul says he came to him and refreshed him many times.

From this imprisonment Paul is not so hopeful of deliverance as before. He considers himself as already being offered up and the time of his departure at hand. He seems to consider that he has finished his course, and fought his fight, and yet later on in the letter he expects to winter at Rome. When he says, “At my first defense nobody stood with me,” that seems to imply that he had a second examining trial, more favorable than the first one, and that somebody stood by him in that trial.

Whether Timothy finds him alive, this letter does not show. But it is sure that toward the last his condition is more favorable than at first. Indeed, there seems to have been quite a favorable reaction. How otherwise will you account for the letter’s ending this way: “Give diligence to come before winter. Eubulus saluteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.” And the preceding expression: “I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” It seems that the situation has moderated.

They could not connect Paul with the burning of Rome, yet it may be that was the first charge against him and nobody would stand by him under such an accusation. It is evident that in this first trial Paul was delivered from imminent death, though held on other charges. If the charge were arson, Paul might well show his absence from the city at the time of the burning, and everywhere he taught against lawlessness, sedition, arson, anything that would subvert society, anything like anarchy.

Now I will take up the exegesis: The first thing to determine is about when was this letter written? Probably late in A.D. 67. The “winter” of this letter must be the same as the winter referred to in Titus. Winter is coming and he wants Timothy to come before navigation closes.

The salutation set forth in the first two verses contains a note of special affection: “Timothy, my beloved child.” Circumstances call for this tenderness. The analysis consists of only one thing: A faithful minister of Jesus Christ. That is the subject of the whole letter fidelity in a preacher. We will consider that fidelity, however, from many viewpoints. Whatever the viewpoint, one thing runs through this letter be faithful to Jesus Christ from conversion to death.

Note his thanksgiving and prayer: “I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, how unceasing is my remembrance of thee in my supplications night and day.” He left Timothy in a pretty hard place, with that menacing coppersmith, all those Judaizing teachers, and with the hostile attitude of the Roman power.

Next thought: “Longing to see you.” We may rest assured that that is not a formal statement. If there was anything on this earth that Paul wanted right then, apart from God’s favor, it was to see Timothy. What brought up that longing to see him? “Remembering thy tears.” When Paul had to leave Ephesus so suddenly, he had left Timothy in tears. Remembering this, it makes Paul long to see him.

Now comes a second remembrance. He is in a position where memory would have much to do with both his prayers and his longings. “Having been reminded of the unfeigned faith in thee.” Who brought that reminder? Somebody must have brought a message to Paul that Timothy’s faith was standing like a rock. I think it was Onesiphorus, whose coming constitutes a part at least of the occasion of the letter. When he contemplates the steadfastness of Timothy’s faith as repored by Onesiphorus, he thinks of its origin: “Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice.” Paul’s mind goes back to that first meeting held in Derbe, those Jewish women, the mother, the daughter, and the daughter’s little boy sitting in the audience, and under his preaching all were converted.

His mind, rapidly reviewing the past, comes to his second meeting with Timothy on the occasion of his ordination, hence the exhortation: ‘”For which cause I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God [now, Timothy, I want your memory exercised] which is in thee through the laying on of hands.” When Timothy was ordained, Paul was in the presbytery. After the prayer the presbytery passed by and each one laid his hand on Timothy’s head. When Paul’s hands touched his head the mighty power of the Spirit of God came upon him. “Timothy, stir up that gift; don’t let it rust from disuse. That gift was made for use.”

That is a good exhortation for any preacher. Whatever gifts the Lord has given us, we can make them stronger by use, or we can enfeeble them by disuse. Sometimes a spirit of lethargy comes on a preacher; he seems to be spiritually about half asleep. He needs to stir up the gifts which have been given him. I remember once for about two or three weeks, while I could theoretically take hold of things, I could not take hold of them with my soul. When that time comes to us, let us stir up our gifts.

QUESTIONS

1. Give the circumstances under which this letter was written.

2. When and where written?

3. How account for the sudden revolution toward Paul?

4. Who entertained Paul on his last visit to Ephesus?

5. What route did Paul take when he left Timothy at Ephesus, what points did he touch, and what of his staff?

6. How received at Rome?

7. What one ray of light shines in the gloom?

8. What passage in this letter indicates his loss of hope of deliverance?

9. What indications that conditions were more favorable toward the end?

10. What the tenderness in the salutation and why?

11. Put the analysis into one great theme.

12. What are Paul’s remembrances as expressed in his thanksgiving?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Ver. 1. Paul, an apostle, &c. ] The preface of this Epistle seems to be an abridgment of that of the Epistle to the Romans. See Trapp on “ Rom 1:1 “

Which is in Christ Jesus ] All out of Christ are living carcases, walking sepulchres of themselves.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

2Ti 1:1-2 .] ADDRESS AND GREETING.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

1 . . ] Cf. reff. . ] according to (in pursuance of, with a view to the fulfilment of) the promise (ref.) of life which is in Christ Jesus (all this is to be taken with , not with . Thdrt. explains it well, . Chrysostom sees, in this mention of the promise of life in Christ, a consolation to Timotheus under present troubles: , . And this idea seems to be borne out by the strain of the subsequent portion of the Epistle, which is throughout one of confirmation and encouragement. So Bengel, “nervus ad Timotheum hortandum, 2Ti 1:10 , cap. ii. 8”).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

2Ti 1:1-2 . Salutation.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

2Ti 1:1 . . . See note on 1Ti 1:1 .

: This formula is found also in 1 and 2 Cor. Eph. and Col. See note on 1Ti 1:1 , where it is pointed out that while the same may be said to be issued by God the Father and God the Son, is always used of the Father’s eternal purpose as regards the salvation of man (Rom 2:18 ; Rom 12:2 ; 2Co 8:5 ; Gal 1:4 ; Eph 1:5 ; Eph 1:9 ; Eph 1:11 ; Col 1:9 ; Col 4:12 ; 1Th 4:3 ; 1Th 5:18 , etc.). St. Paul believed that his own commission as an apostle was a part of God’s arrangements to this end, one of the ways in which the Will manifested itself.

, . . .: To be connected with . His apostleship was for the accomplishment of the promise , etc. See Rom 1:5 , . For the force of with acc. see Winer-Moulton, Gram . p. 502. The notion is more largely expressed in the corresponding passage of Tit. (2Ti 1:2 ), . We must not suppose that there is any limitation in the reference of the expression here. The mention of “the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus” (Gal 2:19-20 ) is not intended as a consolation to Timothy (as Chrys., Bengel), nor was it even specially suggested by his own near approaching death. The preciousness of that promise is never wholly absent from the minds of Christians; though of course it comes to the surface of our consciousness at crises when death is, or seems to be, imminent.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

2 Timothy Chapter 1

The opening salutation of the Epistle as usual is instinct with the spirit of all that is to follow. Deep seriousness and tender affection pervade the whole. It is no longer a question of order in the house of God on the earth when the apostle is obliged to speak of a great house where are not only gold and silver vessels, but also wooden and earthen, and some to honour and some to dishonour. Then not discipline only, but purifying oneself from these at all cost becomes a paramount duty, if one is to be personally a vessel to honour, sanctified, meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work. It is a question in short of the firm foundation of God with its unfailing comfort on one side and its inalienable responsibility on the other. But, thank God, come what may, that foundation stands, whatever the disorder of the house; and the consequent obligation of the faithful abides, the more peremptory for His glory because of general defection. Faith never despairs of good, never slights evil, and is free only to please God, instead of easing self by the choice of the lesser wrong.

It could not be, however, in these circumstances, but that a tone of importunate earnestness should prevail. Therefore is the need urged more than ever of courage and endurance, as well as of high jealousy for the will of God and detestation for the evil way of man – of man now alas! associating the Lord’s name with the worst wickedness of Satan. The modest but apparently timid character of Timothy called forth the apostle’s heart under the power of the Holy Ghost to prepare him for the arduous labour and conflict which lay before him on the speedy departure of his spiritual father. Even more thoroughly and with less exception do its exhortations apply to the faithful now, than do those of the First Epistle because there was more of the official element in the First, whereas what is moral predominates in the Second. Be it ours therefore to profit fully from this consideration. For unquestionably the difficult times of the last days have long since come, and the darkness of the closing scenes of lawlessness are already casting their shadows before.

“Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus, by God’s will, according to promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timotheus [my] beloved child: Grace, mercy, peace, from God [the] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (vers. 1, 2).

It is observable that here, as in the First Epistle, Paul puts forward his. great commission. Intimacy was never meant to enfeeble that divinely-given place and authority. Sometimes the apostle might merge it; as we see with gracious beauty in his Epistle to Philemon, where authority would have jarred with the chord he wished to strike in that valued believer’s heart. Here apostleship was demanded, not only by the nature of the First Epistle, but in order to give weight to the moral directions of the Second. The path of Christ which lay through the perilous dilemmas of the last days required the highest expression of divine authority. Without this sanction even the most necessary step of righteousness must expose the man of God who took it in faith to the charge of innovation, of presumption, and specially of disorder because the general state of Christendom was itself one of fixed, traditional, and all but universal departure from God’s word.

But in the First Epistle it is “apostle according to the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope.” This is evidently more in relation to mankind, since much to the saints is external as compared with the terms of the Second Epistle. “By God’s will” is here, as in 1 and 2 Cor., Eph., and Col. It was requisite or wise at first, and it abides to the last. The “will” of God admits of a far larger and deeper application than-His “commandment,” however important the latter may be in its place. Many, who would shrink from insubjection to a commandment of God, might be comparatively little exercised about His will, which takes in a vast variety of spiritual life exercised outside the range of a formal injunction. We may observe a kindred distinction which our Lord draws in Joh 14 between His commandments and His word (vers. 21, 23, 24). This addition in the Second Epistle quite falls in with its broad and deep character.

But there is more difference still. Paul was apostle “according to promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.” This clearly connects the closing Epistle of Paul with the opening one of John, where eternal life in all its fulness in Christ is the characteristic doctrine. Not that this was ever absent from the Pauline Epistles. We see it in those to the Romans and the Corinthians, to the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, the Colossians, if possible still more brightly and in practical power. But here “life” is in the most prominent way bound up with his apostleship and of course, therefore, with the entire bearing of this, his last written, communication. The Spirit of God for the first time puts it undoubtedly in the fore-ground.

But I think that the method employed has not been at all rightly apprehended. The preposition () holds its more ordinary sense – “according to” – in conformity with, rather than in pursuance of, or with a view to the fulfilment etc. Not the object and the intention of the apostleship are expressed thereby, but its character. Undoubtedly Paul’s apostleship did further and made known the promises of eternal life; but the truth revealed here is that he was thus called of God according to, or in keeping with, this promise of life. His office was not merely to be minister of the gospel in the whole creation under heaven; nor yet only to be also minister of the church which is Christ’s body (Col 1:23 , Col 1:24 ). He now for the first time describes himself as by God’s will apostle “according to promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.” Never did Timothy, never do the faithful, need so much the comforting strengthening knowledge of that life as in view of the horrors and dangers which this Epistle contemplates. If aught be real in a world of vain show, it is the life which is in Christ; it is eternal, as it is meant to overcome by faith. Without that life even the power of the Holy Ghost might work in a son of perdition. “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by Thy name, and by Thy name cast out demons, and by Thy name do many powers? And then will I avow unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, workers of lawlessness” (Mat 7:22 , Mat 7:23 ). Power without life is most ominous and fatal; with life, most blessed and eminently characteristic of Christianity. We shall see this carefully put forward for our consolation in this very chapter of this Epistle. But life has indisputably the prime place in the character here given of Paul’s apostleship. No one had prophecy as he had; none knew all mysteries and all knowledge like him; and who, as he, had all faith, so as to remove mountains? But he had also that love which is of God, surpassed perhaps by none; for he lived the life which is in Christ Jesus. We can but admire, therefore, as we here read of his apostleship characterized, not by display of spiritual energy, but “according to promise of life that is in Christ Jesus.”

Life, like faith, is individual, yet obedient and therefore valuing, next to Christ, the walking to His glory with those who are His. But do any walk well together who have not faith to stand alone if His will requires it? Life therefore is thus brought forward in this capital place. If ever its value was felt more than before, it was now: the strait of times called for all that is of Christ. Glory on earth had been the idol of the Jew at his best; heavenly glory in and with Christ is the Christian hope; but one has now life in Christ, a “promise” incomparably beyond those to Abraham, David, and any other worthy. We have it in Him now, and with Him shall manifestly have it when glorified. The earth, the world, was the theatre of God’s dealings, and will be of His kingdom in power and glory when Christ appears and reigns. But as Paul was apostle according to promise of the life that is in Christ, so we having Him have that eternal life which will enjoy its own proper sphere at His coming above the world of which its nature is wholly independent.

“To Timotheus, [my] beloved child.” In the First Epistle he was designated “true” () child. It might have seemed impossible to have missed the intended difference. For the words necessarily intimate in the latter case that Timothy was no spurious son but his genuine child, and this not merely in “the” faith as an objective possession but in “faith” as a real living principle in the soul. In the former case there is the express declaration of the apostle’s positive and personal affection, which was apparently no formal or unmeaning phrase. Yet a German annotator of some repute (Mack) asks, “Can it be accidental that instead of , as Timotheus is called in the First Epistle 1: 2, and in Tit 1:4 , here we find ? Or may a reason for the change be found in this that it now behoved Timotheus to stir up afresh the faith and the grace in him, before he could again be worthy of the name in its full sense?” And this shallow remark, which misses the true inference from the use of the designation in Titus (who never draws out the strong feelings of the apostle as Timothy does in both Epistles, and yet is styled no less . .), has had the most deleterious influence on Dean Alford’s general comparison of the two Epistles, and misled him on not a few details of importance. Bengel, Ellicott, and others are much more correct in this; so that the regret expressed for their misapprehension might have been well spared. The failure in discernment really belongs to those who affect to see loss of confidence in the Second Epistle; and it is only made conspicuous by allowing more love. “More of mere love”! is a strange phrase, and unworthy of a saint, who ought to know better its real and inestimable worth.

“Grace, mercy, peace from God [the] Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Here we have the same words precisely as in the First; and as to both so famous an expositor as Calvin dares to apologize for the apostle, if it be not to censure him. “He does not observe the exact order; for he places first what ought to have been last, namely, the grace which flows from mercy. For the reason why God at first receives us into favour and why He loves is, that He is merciful. But it is not unusual to mention the cause after the effect for the sake of explanation.”* Such is his comment on the first occasion, which is repeated substantially on the second. It is plain that the scope of the blessed wish of the apostle has escaped him. For grace is the general term for that energy and outflow of divine goodness which rises above men’s evil and ruin, and loves notwithstanding all; and so is most correctly, as it is uniformly, in the first place in the salutation, whether to assemblies or to individual saints. “Mercy” most appropriately finds its place in the desire of God’s pitiful consideration for individual weakness, need, or danger, and so is found not only in 1 and 2 Tim., but also exceptionally and of special purpose in Jude, as it disappears from Philemon where the assembly in his house rightly modifies the formula. But mercy being thus subordinate, however sweet individually, with unquestionably good reason holds the second place. By none is it doubted that “peace,” being an effect rather than a spring, is found where it should be, as indeed each and all have been shown to be. Yet how sorrowful and humiliating that such apparently unconscious but real disrespect to scripture should stand unchallenged in the final shape as well as in a modern translation of Calvin’s writings, who is generally allowed to be in nothing behind the very chiefest Reformers! If reverence for God be attested by trembling at His word, may we be warned by such an example.

* “Secundum hoc, hoc est, Misericordiae nomen, praeter suum morem interposuit, forte singular) erga Timotheum amore impulsus. Porro, non servat exactum ordinem: quod enim posterius est priore loco posuit gratiam scilicet quae ex misericordia manat. Nam ideo nos in gratiam initio recipit Deus, et deinde amore nos prosequitur, quia misericors est. Verum non est insolitum, causam subjungi effectuii, explicationis causa” Calvin, (Opp. vii. 438. Amstel. 1607).

It is interesting to note how often in the last words of an old man one hears the recall of earlier facts in his life or recollections. Inspiration does not set this aside. The apostle speaks now of his “forefathers,” as he reminds Timothy of the faithful predecessors in his family. “I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience how unceasingly I have the remembrance of thee in my supplications, night and day longing to see thee, remembering thy tears, that I may be filled with joy, calling to mind the unfeigned faith that [is] in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice, and, I am persuaded, in thee also” (vers. 3-5). There is a difference in the way in which Paul speaks of his forefathers as compared with the female line of believers before Timothy. He does not affirm that his ancestors were faithful in the same sense as were those of his child in the faith. It would not seem to be more than what he predicates of “our whole twelve tribes” in Act 26:7 . He however assuredly served God with pure conscience and could speak of giving Him thanks in the remembrance of Timothy. It was not merely a gracious affection for his sorrowing and anxious fellow-labourer; but he had the remembrance of Timothy in his supplications unceasingly, whilst night and day he longed to see him. Both were true. One cannot conceive a grosser delusion than that faith destroys affection. There is no life so influential as Christ’s, no bond equal to that of the Holy Spirit.

But there is more to be observed here: Paul remembered Timothy’s tears, without particularly telling us why he shed them. The context however, implies that it was the bitterness of parting from his revered leader; for the joy, with which the apostle desired to be filled, would be in their seeing one another again. No doubt there was the added feeling for Timothy, but the Spirit of prophecy had over and over again predicted the bonds and imprisonment, if not death, that awaited Paul.

Again, we may notice there was this further for which the apostle was thankful to God: “calling to mind the unfeigned faith which [is] in thee” – faith deeply called for in the increasing perplexities of God’s people here below.

It is indeed great joy to think of a beloved soul here and there, thus marked out by the Spirit, not only in time but for eternity; to think of such as an object of God’s love, and in the nearest relation to Christ. It is a sweet comfort in shame and sorrow to look on a friend who by “unfeigned faith” is witness for God in an unbelieving world. Such was Timothy in the apostle’s eyes, which, if they were soon about to close on that world, looked back at the faith which dwelt first in his grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice, as he emphatically adds, “and, I am persuaded, in thee also.” Timothy was not the less but the more dear to the apostle, because he had been deeply exercised and severely sifted. But he could not leave him under possible discouragement, nor simply bring before him those who had preceded him in faith, nor cheer himself in a merely general way. He adds, “For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands” (ver. 6).

This gift ( ) was the special energy of the Holy Ghost imparted to Timothy. There is no reasonable doubt that it is the gift spoken of in 1Ti 4:14 . Only there it is said to have been given through prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elderhood; here. through the laying on of Paul’s hands. The presbyters were associated with Paul; but the power was solely in the apostle. He only was the divinely employed channel of so great a gift. And this is indicated by the difference of the prepositions “with” and “by.”

But the apostle takes occasion to speak of that which, thank God, is not special and in no way calls for prophecy. Rather is it the abiding spring of power for the church of God, the standing privilege guaranteed by the Lord (John 14-16) to every believer in the Lord resting on redemption during this present interval since Pentecost. Hence the change of language: “for God gave us not a spirit of cowardice, but of power and love and sobriety of mind” (ver. 7)

What can be more comforting now in the utter ruin of the outward character of the church, which caused the apostle such intense grief when he descried its beginnings! Signs and wonders, if they could be in consistency with God’s will and glory, had been no such source of joy and blessing. They were most important in their season and for their end. They attested the victory of the risen Man over Satan; they proclaimed the beneficent power of God just vested in the hands of those that were His, and in the midst of a ruined creation. They were calculated, as they were used, to arouse the attention of a dark and slumbering race to the new ways of a God active in goodness, Who was putting honour on Him Whom man had rejected to his own shame and irreparable loss.

But there is a still deeper grace in the permanence of the Holy Ghost given to the Christian as also to the church. And the more so as we learn how every truth has been enfeebled, every principle corrupted, all the ways of God not only misunderstood but misinterpreted, so that His testimony as a whole is wrecked in Christendom. Nevertheless, as the firm foundation of God stands, and as the Head of the church is exalted at His right hand infallibly to love, cherish, and nourish His body, so is His great gift to us unrevoked, and is not a spirit of cowardice. To supplant it alas! might well seem to become us, when one realizes the present ruin of all that bears the name of the Lord here below. On the contrary, He is given to abide in and with us for ever, and His gift is that of power and of love and of a sound mind. This was meant to cheer Timothy; and we have yet deeper need. So much the more therefore ought it to cheer us as nothing else can.

For we must remember that the Spirit of God is given us for present enjoyment and service. It becomes us therefore neither to sit down helplessly in dust and ashes, nor to show how unbroken we are, if not profane, in saying, while we go on with wrong, that Christ will set all to rights when He appears in glory. The more we are led of Him, the more deeply we shall feel that, as the evil around is irreparable, we must now cleave to His name, separate from evil and be associated godlily. We shall not give ourselves up to despair, but rise in faith and faithfulness. We shall be strengthened in obedience, and filled with the divine cheer of the Lord’s presence, as we keep His words and look for Him from heaven.

The consciousness of the Holy Ghost in us will be power, not to work miracles, but to do the will of God, as this will draw us out in the love of God, and impart a sober judgment of all that becomes His saints in the midst of ruin. This is worthy of Christ in an evil day; and what can we desire more till He Himself comes, the crown of divine goodness and glory?

In the path of Christ the time surely comes when faith is put to the proof. It is one thing in the confidence of grace and at the summons of the truth to turn one’s back on the fairest pretension opposed to His name; it is quite another to stand firm and unabashed when not only the world turns from us, but desertion sets in among those that confessed Him. How few can stand the loss of valued associations, not to speak of their taunts and persecutions! This abnormal state was dawning on the sensitive and distressed spirit of Timothy. It has long been the ordinary experience for the faithful in Christendom. What a frightful illustration of it even recent years have furnished!

“Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner; but suffer hardship with the gospel, according to the power of God, Who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before times everlasting, but hath now been manifested by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, Who abolished death and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel, whereunto I was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher” (vers. 8-11).

It is only ignorance of self which makes it to many difficult to understand why Timothy should be thus ashamed. When the tide of blessing is at the full there is little or no room for shame. It is far otherwise when the ingathering is small and when the love of the many waxes cold, when the world becomes more hardened and contemptuous and the saints cower under its reproaches. Faith alone keeps the eye upon Christ and the heart warmed with His love in an atmosphere so chilling. His reproach (for it is Christ’s assuredly) becomes then glorious in our eyes; and “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Rom 8:37 ). For the testimony though it may seem to fail is none the less the testimony of our Lord, and the suffering witness under the unjust hand of human authority is His prisoner. “Be not therefore ashamed” is the word. Grace identified the witness, who may not be perfect, with His testimony which is absolutely so. Why should we ever stand for that which is less than divine’ We are not called to suffer or to bear shame for anything but Christ. He has still His objects, precious in His eyes, here below. Be it ours to find our lot only there, and let us not be ashamed in a day of grievous departure.

But more; Timothy was called to “suffer evil (hardship) along with the gospel” as an object assailed and involved in all possible trial. It is a grievous blank where a servant of God has only the gospel before his soul, lacks heart for the glory of Christ as Head of the church, fails in faith to enter into the mystery of Christ and His body, and takes the scantiest interest in the joys and sorrows which those blessed relationships entail. It is wrong to be absorbed even with the gospel, so as to abnegate our part in these high and heavenly privileges and consequent duties, so near to Christ and inseparable from God’s counsels and Christ’s love. But there is the opposite error, which though more rare is at least as dangerous and even more dishonouring to Christ because it is more pretentious and seductive – the danger of occupying the mind and life with the truth of the church and its wondrous associations to the depreciation of the gospel and the despising of those who faithfully addict themselves to this work. The apostle to whom we are indebted more than to any other inspired instrument for the revelation of the church not less strenuously insists on the all-importance of the gospel. Christ is most actively and supremely concerned with both, and so should His servants, though one might be neither a teacher on the one hand nor an evangelist on the other. Still more responsible, because of the grace given to him, was Timothy, being both an evangelist and a teacher. He is here enjoined to suffer evil with the gospel, but according to the power of God. Nothing can show more forcibly the deep interest in it to which he was called. When worldliness enters, suffering hardship disappears. When the church becomes worldly, one gains honour, ease, emolument; and so it is with the gospel when it becomes popular. If the gospel and the church engage the heart and testimony according to Christ, suffering and rejection cannot but ensue. Timothy, therefore, was called to take Christ’s part in the gospel; and God’s power would not be lacking, however he might suffer.

The gospel is well worth the while, “for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes,” being entirely above the distinction which the law or circumcision made. It is of the Spirit, not of the flesh, not national now but personal. God “saved us.” It is the fruit of His work in Christ; and that work was finished on earth, and accepted in heaven, and abides for ever, complete and unchanging. Men may be moved away from the hope of the gospel by ordinances on the one hand or by philosophy on the other. Both are of the world, and almost equally worthless; both are absolutely inefficacious to save, though one be a sign, the other purely human. But God “saved us and called us with a holy calling.” Here “holy” is emphatic and most suitable to the Epistle and the state of things contemplated. Always true, it was urgent now to press its “holy” character. It is a calling on high or upward, as we read in Phi 3:14 , in contrast with the earthly things in which men find their glory to their shame. It is a heavenly calling, as we see in Heb 3:1 , which those needed especially to consider who were used to the external calling of Israel in the land. It is God’s calling with its hope in and with Christ where the creature disappears from view and His eternal counsels for the glory of His Son are developed for the soul, as in Eph 1 and 4. But now in the growing declension of such as bore the name of the Lord the apostle binds together God’s salvation with His holy calling. An evil time is not at all one for lowering the standard but for unveiling it and for pressing its importance.

Further, being divine, God’s salvation and call are not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace. Even the saint was to pray, “Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified” (Psa 143:2 ). There are good works in every saint: “For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10 ); they are not only to be fair morally but they ought to be such as suit those on earth who are united to Christ in heaven, responsible to reflect heavenly grace – no longer earthly righteousness merely. Such works alone are properly Christian. “Against such there is no law” (Gal 5:23 ). But they are quite distinct from those of legal obedience, were it ever so exact. Nevertheless God’s salvation is according to Christ’s work, not ours. Nor is it of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that showeth mercy (Rom 9:16 ), according to His own purpose and grace, Who would thus perfectly honour the Son as we do in our measure by our faith.

This, again, was given us in Christ Jesus before everlasting times, a most weighty and blessed truth. It is not merely security assured without end, but grace given in Christ Jesus before time began. It was not so with Israel: they were called in time. God’s purpose about us, Christians, was in eternity before any creature existed. To make it only endless security in the future is to lose this wondrous fact of the divine will about the saints who are now called in Christ to His glory. Their blessing was a counsel bound up with Christ before the world was or any question of creature responsibility entered: God purposed to justify His love and glorify Himself in having us with Christ in His presence and like Him of His own sovereign grace; therefore are we so much the more bound to walk, now and here, as He walked, in righteousness and holiness of truth as the new man after God was created (Eph 4:24 ).

But the manifestation of this purposed grace to us came in with Him Who was manifested in flesh and justified in the Spirit. Even so, though all depended on the dignity of His person, and awaited the completion of His work, and His return as man into that glory whence He had come as God the Son that thus it might be the Son of man Who had glorified God in Himself; and this straightway (Joh 13:31 , Joh 13:32 ). Manhood, now that the infinite work of suffering for sin was accomplished, was in His person at least raised from among the dead and glorified on high according to the fullest counsel of God. His purpose and grace was no longer a question of gift only as before the ages of time, but manifested now through the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, having annulled death and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel.

This helps to the more distinct understanding of verse 1; for it is the promise of life, that which is in Christ Jesus, fulfilled. Grace was thus distributing its incomparable stores. Death was brought to naught as Satan’s empire over sinful man, and Jesus was manifestly Lord of all and Conqueror over all hostile power and Giver of infinite blessing in communion with God His Father; and all this in truth and righteousness. For sin had been borne and borne away, as the gospel declares to all men in itself and applies the good news to ourselves by faith individually.

Where is man’s wisdom then? For ever put to shame in His cross of which it was ashamed. Where is the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us? Effaced for ever and taken out of the way by Him Who nailed it to the cross, as the resurrection cast its glorious light on the incorruption of the body pledged to us in Him risen. No wonder the apostle told the Roman saints long before that he was not ashamed of the gospel, destined to be imprisoned and slain and cast out in the person of its witnesses in that city more than in any other that professed it, not to speak of the loathsome imposture and harlotry which supplanted and still supplant it there. No wonder the apostle there imprisoned for its sake, and anticipating the speedy pouring out of his blood as a drink-offering (2Ti 4:6 ), adds with triumphant thankfulness, “unto which [gospel] I [emphatically] was appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher [of Gentiles].” Some few high and varied authorities ( A 17) omit “of Gentiles,” which from the character of the Epistle seems to me probably right; and the rather as the copyists were profoundly insensible of such a trait but disposed to assimilate the second letter to the first, where “of Gentiles” has its suited and certain place.

The apostle no sooner introduces himself and his appointed place in service than he names those sufferings of his which were at least as wonderful as his labours.

“For which cause also I suffer these things; yet I am not ashamed; for I know Whom I have believed; and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have entrusted [or, my deposit] against that day. Have an outline of sound words, which [words] thou heardest from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. The good thing entrusted [or, the good deposit] keep through the Holy Spirit that dwelleth in us” (vers. 12-14).

No one was more remote from superstitious penalties or self-righteous pains; yet where was ever such a life-long endurance in the most varied ways for the testimony of Christ? “In stripes beyond measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Five times from Jews I received the forty stripes save one; thrice I was scourged with rods; once I was stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I spent in the deep; in journeyings often; in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my countrymen, in perils from Gentiles, in perils in town, in perils in wilderness, in perils at sea, in perils among false brethren; in labour and toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2Co 11:21-27 ). And this is but the mere external part in what he calls his “folly,” that is, in speaking of himself instead of Christ, extorted from him as it was by the detractors at Corinth. But what a life of love such sufferings indicate, what devotedness to Him Who had appointed him a herald and apostle and teacher!

Was he “ashamed” then? Rather did he boast of what humanly speaking is a humiliation. If it is needful to boast, says he, “I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity,” “most gladly therefore will I rather boast of my infirmities [not faults or sins assuredly], that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ; for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2Co 12:10 ). As that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God, so to the spiritual mind there is nothing so glorious for a saint here below as reproach, rejection, and suffering for Christ’s sake and His testimony. This was the cause for which Paul was suffering then as all through his course, since the Lord said, “I will show him how much he must suffer for My name” (Act 9:16 ). But it was also great grace that, instead of complaining like Jeremiah, he should abound in courage, joy, and triumph, NOT shame.

Was Paul then a man of iron constitution, a heart of oak, which threw off all blows and wounds, as if unfelt? “Ye know,” said he to some who should have known him well, “that in weakness of the flesh I preached the gospel to you at the first; and my temptation which was in my flesh ye did not slight nor reject with contempt; but ye received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus” (Gal 4:13 , Gal 4:14 ). His circumstances were as trying as his health was infirm; yet went he on for years, night and day, admonishing each with tears, coveting no one’s silver or gold or clothing, but his hands ministering to the wants of others as well as his own. Truly in nothing was he ashamed; but with all boldness of grace, as always, so now also magnifying Christ in his body whether by life or by death.

What sustained him? “For I know Whom I have believed.” It is faith, but it is the Person Who is believed, and a real inward knowledge of Him thereby formed. No other knowledge has such sterling value for eternity; yet there is communion with God in it now, as now the Holy Spirit communicates it through the word. The voice of Christ is heard and believed and known; for there is, though the channels may be many, but that One, and the voice of any other is only the voice of a stranger. His words are spirit, and they are life; and that life depends on Him Who is its source; Who draws out confidence the more He is known without enfeebling dependence. In Him we have redemption through His blood; and as He is, so we are in this world: acceptance is complete and perfect, according to the glory of His person and the efficacy of His work.

Hence the apostle adds, “and I am persuaded that He is able to keep my deposit – that which I have entrusted unto Him – against that day.” By “my deposit” is to be understood all that I as a believer entrust to the safekeeping of God, not only the security but the blessedness of the soul and the body, of the walk and the work, with every question conceivable to be raised in the past, present, or future. As responsibility is clearly in question, the reference is as usual to “that day,” which will declare the measure of every saint’s fidelity when each shall have his praise from God. The coming or “presence” of the Lord, as is well-known, is the aspect of pure grace when all shall be caught up in the likeness of the Lord to be with Him for ever.

This leads the apostle to impress on his fellow-labourer an all-important exhortation regarding his own service of Christ with others. “Have an outline of sound words, which thou heardest from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (ver. 13). “Hold fast” goes far beyond the force of the first word, as “the” form is also unwarranted. Timothy had been used to hear the things which are freely given us by God spoken in words, not which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth, or, as they are here described, “sound words”. But there had been no formula which he was called and bound to keep; simply the truth conveyed in divinely taught expressions, which, heard before from Paul, he was to heed jealously now that the end of that mighty testifying was near.

For man is not competent to set the truth in new forms without trenching on it and thus impairing if not corrupting the testimony of God. It is not enough to have the things of the Spirit; the words in which they are conveyed need to be of the Spirit also, in order to communicate God’s mind in perfection; and hence, to be a rule of faith, we must have God’s word. Now that the inspired authorities no longer exist, scripture only is this; and it is as distinct from ministry on the one hand as from the assembly on the other.

Ministry is the regular service of Christ by gift to communicate the truth, whether to the world in the gospel, or to the saints in the truth generally. But even if not a word were amiss (which is rarely the case – indeed far otherwise), it is not inspiration and therefore in no way a rule of faith.

Still less can the assembly be rightly so viewed. It is responsible to receive and reflect the word of God. It is the pillar and stay of the truth, the responsible keeper and corporate witness of holy writ; as Israel of old was of the law and the prophets, the living oracles committed to them. But scripture itself abides the rule of faith.

And hence in this last Epistle of Paul we have the reiterated forms which urge the duty of taking heed to the sound words heard from the apostle. Outline or sample of such words he was to have, the authority of which was imprinted on them from God; for Timothy was no such authority, and less if possible were the saints who were to profit by them. But Timothy’s state of soul was much for their happy use with others; and therefore “with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” has its importance. Memory, however exact, would not suffice. Faith and love, which have their power in Jesus Christ, would make them so much the more impressive.

The verse that follows appears to me to summarize what its predecessor exhorts in detail: “Keep the good deposit through the Holy Spirit that dwelleth in us” (ver. 14), the latter having a sort of antithetical reference to verse 12. There it was the apostle resting with holy satisfaction on God’s keeping what he had entrusted to Him. Here is the other side, in which Timothy is called to keep what he was entrusted with, for which God provides help in the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. For the Spirit given abides with us for ever. He may be grieved by our sins and folly; but He does not abandon the saint since redemption. He is there, when self-judgment corrects the hindrance, to act in His own gracious power to the glory of Christ Who sent Him down for this very purpose.

It will be noticed that the Spirit’s dwelling is not said to be “in thee”, but “in us”. So it is in scripture habitually, and is incomparably better than if predicated of Timothy alone. On him had been conferred by apostolic prerogative a special gift; but he or any other saint shared the unspeakable boon, for Whose mission it was expedient that even Jesus should go away (Joh 16:7 ). This is the common and characteristic power of the Christian; and therefore it was fitting that, while Timothy should be reminded of One so competent to help our infirmity, he should have it clearly before his soul that the saints at large have the divine Spirit no less truly dwelling in them. It was well for both him and them to have the comfort and the stimulus of so blessed, yet solemn, a fact indelibly before them.

We cannot too strongly urge that the precious privileges with which God’s grace in Christ has invested believers are standing facts, and not mere ideas or transient feelings. They are indeed calculated to exercise the mind and fill the mind to the full, and wretched is his state, who, possessing what so transcends human thought or affection, seems to estimate them less than the passing things of the day or the trifling objects on which man spends his care. But the life of Christ, His death and resurrection, redemption through His blood, union with Him on high, His intercession at God’s right hand, are facts on which the soul can rest, no less than on His Deity and His humanity in one person. Just so is it with the presence of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, and His varied operations in the assembly and the individual. The believer stands in divine present relationship with them all, which are as certain and infinitely more important than the links of natural kin or country, which nobody in his senses disbelieves. What a reproof to the thoughtless saint! and what solid cheer to the trembling heart! We have only to reflect on what grace has made ours in Christ to run over with thanksgiving and praise.

There is more, however, than hardship or suffering to be faced in the testimony of our Lord, and no one proved it more than the apostle. To be persecuted by foes may be bitter, though glorious for His sake Who really entails it as the world now is. But what is this to compare with desertion by friends? Here, the life that is in Christ finds fresh scope. For glorifying the Lord in such an experience how deep the value of the word, and how energetic the power of the Holy Ghost which dwells in us! A single eye to Christ alone can sustain in it, and as the apostle was then feeling it to the uttermost so does he not hesitate to bring it before the tender spirit of his beloved child.

“Thou knowest this, that all that are in Asia turned away from me; of whom is Phygelus and Hermogenes” (ver. 15). Of these two we may be wholly ignorant. Not so Timothy any more than Paul, who singles out their names as the most painful examples of the abandonment which cut the apostle to the heart. Timothy knew well what made their heartlessness such a distress to the servant, such a dishonour to the Master. It is not Christian to treat such conduct with contempt any more than with resentment. We can afford to hear all, however humbling as well as grievous. For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Their defection would prepare Timothy and countless others for that which might be similar in its kind and time. Scripture records nothing in vain. It is true that we are nerved and strengthened for the conflict by looking not to deserters but to the Captain of salvation. But it is well to be prepared for that which has been, for what might be, not to say for what from the same causes is sure to be, from time to time. And it was the more important to speak of it to Timothy at this time, because he was so soon to lose the cheering presence and burning exhortations of the one who was writing to him, at least to lose his voice as a living man, though ever to be heard, ever to abide as the word of the living God.

Let us consider more precisely what appears to be meant by these affecting words. Asia, pro-consular Asia, had been the scene of signal triumph for the gospel. It was there that the word of the Lord mightily grew and prevailed, and this in its capital city, Ephesus. To the saints there the apostle had written his most elevated and richest Epistle, with the singular feature of there being no occasion to occupy himself or them with faults or dangers then existing in their midst, though not without warning against the worst and lowest evils into which Satan might betray, and betray so much the more surely if that height of grace and truth were departed from or despised. And Timothy knew Asia well, especially Ephesus. There the apostle would have him remain when he himself was going to Macedonia (1Ti 1:3 ) that he might keep up the testimony which had been planted there and guard the saints against all the trash of man which Satan would use to supplant it.

But now, the apostle can assume that Timothy knew that desertion of himself which filled his heart, not with dismay but with grief. Such is the effect of divine love shed abroad in the heart, and Paul would have Timothy to feel it according to Christ. This, undoubtedly, adds to the anguish but it delivers from selfishness as well as from acrimony. And Timothy needed to have it brought before him thus, even though he knew the fact. The language supposes, it would seem, a definite act, rather than a general state, though no doubt there was an antecedent state which prepared the way for that act to affect them so unworthily.

It is true that turning away from Paul is very different from forsaking the gospel or the church, from giving up this truth or that. But where the Lord was giving His most honoured servant to suffer, not for any failure of his own, but for the divine deposit, for His testimony here below, that any should desert such a servant at such a time would be lamentable: how much more so that the desertion should be general and in a moral sense universal where the truth was best known and grace could be brought out in all its height and depth and breadth as nowhere else! I should judge from the context that the fact which brought out this most deplorable and guilty desertion was the apostle’s imprisonment. The enemy took advantage of human shame put upon the greatest servant of the church and of the gospel. And those who had been the abundant fruit of his labours in divine power did in effect join the world in spirit, cowering under its shame where faith and love ought to have given them identification with the apostle’s suffering as bringing glory to the name of Jesus.

But the turning away from Paul was not absolutely complete even in Asia. There was at least a bright exception, as a time of general evil is ever used in the grace of God to bring out singular fidelity and devotedness. “The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain; but being in Rome he sought me out diligently and found [me]; (the Lord grant him to find mercy from [the] Lord in that day). And in how many things he ministered at Ephesus thou knowest very well” (vers. 16-18). The contrast helps much and definitely to show us where the general defection lay; and the Lord repaid “the house of Onesiphorus” with compound interest the grace He had bestowed on its head. “He often refreshed me,” says the gracious apostle: how like the Master Who could say to the poor disciples, “Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations; and I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as My Father appointed unto Me . . .”! (Luk 22:28 , Luk 22:29 ).

But Paul also singles out the crucial fact: “and was not ashamed of my chain.” Love evinces its truth, character, and power in the hour of need. How was it with “all that were in Asia”? They were evidently ashamed of it. Fleshly prudence blamed the zeal for Christ which gave the occasion; and worldly spirit shrank from all solidarity with the imprisoned apostle. How did the Lord regard such selfish timorousness” The Holy Spirit marks its baseness indelibly on the everlasting page of scripture. But He singles out the blessed exception of one whose heart crave the more to the apostle, not merely in the province of Asia, but in the proud metropolis where the apostle was bound. “But being in Rome he sought me very diligently”;* and not in vain. He found the deserted apostle: “the Lord grant him to find mercy from [the] Lord in that day”! This, it is true, we are all awaiting in faith (Jud 1:21 ); but none the less sweet or comforting is the apostle’s prayer, surely not less efficacious than that of an Abraham of old for the present government of God. Nor is this all that is said; but he appeals to Timothy as knowing very well how much service Onesiphorus rendered in Ephesus. The apostle does not limit it, as the Authorized Version does with others, to ministering to himself: the general phrase leaves room for what was personal, of course, but it implies much more, as the apostle carefully states. None knew this “better”* than Timothy who needed no further explanation.

* It is the comparative in both verse 17 and 18, not the positive nor the superlative: a favourite Greek idiom, which if the ellipse were expanded would express, “more diligently than could be expected” (ver. 17) and “knowing better than to require more said of it.” (ver. 18).

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

2 Timothy

A VETERAN’S COUNSELS TO A YOUNG SOLDIER

2Ti 1:1-7 2Ti 3:14-17

PAUL’S heart had been drawn to Timothy long before this letter was written, as far back as the beginning of his second missionary journey, and Timothy had cherished the enthusiastic devotion of a young man for his great leader. He seems to have been the best beloved of the circle which the magnetism of Paul’s character bound to him.

The tone of the two epistles suggests that Timothy needed to be braced up, and have a tonic administered. Probably he inclined to be too much affected by difficulties and opposition, and required the ‘ soul-animating strains’ which Paul sounded in his ears. Possibly the Apostle’s imprisonment and evidently impending death had discouraged and saddened the younger and weaker man. At all events, it is beautiful and pathetic that the words of cheer and brave trust should come from the martyr, and not from the sorrowing friend. Timothy should have been the encourager of Paul, but Paul was the encourager of Timothy.

The verses of this passage embody mainly two counsels. Verse 6 exhorts Timothy to ‘stir up the gift’ that was in him; 2Ti 3:14 bids him ‘abide in the things which’ he has learned. These two – diligent effort to increase his spiritual force and persistent holding by the teaching already received – are based on Paul’s knowledge of his faith and on Timothy’s knowledge of the saving power of that truth. But Paul loved him too ardently to give him cold counsels. The advices are wrapped in the softest covering of gracious affection and recognition of Timothy’s inherited faith and personal devotion to Paul.

I. Before dealing with the advices, look at the lovely prelude in verses 1-5.

Paul does not lay aside his apostolic authority, but he uses it to make his greeting more sweet and strong. What had he been made an apostle by? The will of God. What had he been made an apostle for? To make known the promise of the life which is in Christ. Thus clothed with authority, and bearing the great gift of life, he takes Timothy to his heart as his beloved child. The captain stoops to embrace the private. Christ’s apostle pours his love and benediction over the young servant, and when such lips wish’ grace, mercy, and peace,’ the wish is a prophecy as much as a prayer.

The flow of Paul’s love outstrips that of his words, and there is some verbal obscurity in verses 3-5, but the meaning is plain. Paul’s thankfulness was for Timothy’s ‘unfeigned faith,’ but when he is about to say that, other tender thoughts start up, and insist on being uttered. The language of love in absence is the same all the world over. It comes across all the intervening centuries like the speech of today: ‘I never forget you.’ But love should be sublimed by religion, and find its best expression in ‘supplications.’ Think of the prisoner in Rome, expecting a near death by violence, and yet telling his young friend that he was always thinking about him, Timothy, and wearying for him with a great yearning.

How beautiful is that touch, too, that the remembrance of Timothy’s tears, when he had had to part from Paul, fed the Apostle’s desire to see him again! And how graceful, and evidently more than graceful, is the contrast between the tears of Timothy at parting and the hoped-for joy of Paul at meeting! No wonder that such a leader kindled passionate enthusiasm.

One can fancy the throb of pleasure with which Timothy would read the recognition of his ‘unfeigned faith.’ It is always a memorable moment to a young beginner when a veteran lays his hand on his shoulder and acknowledges his devotion. Nor less fitted to warm Timothy’s heart was the praise of his grandmother and mother. It would not only do that, but would make him feel that his descent added force to the exhortation which followed. Whoever might become careless, one who had such blood in his veins was called on to be true to his ancestral faith. One can well understand how such a beginning prepared Timothy for the succeeding counsels. But this was not art or rhetorical advice on Paul’s part, but deep affection. The soil thus watered by love was ready for the seed.

II. The counsel thus delicately introduced is delicately expressed, as putting in remembrance rather than as enjoining authoritatively.

Paul gives Timothy credit for having already recognised the duty. The ‘gift of God’ is the whole bestowments which fitted him for his work, and which were given from the Holy Spirit, through the imposition of the hands of Paul and of the elders 1Ti 4:14.

But whilst there was a special force in the command to Timothy, the principle involved applies to all Christians, and in a wider aspect to all men; for every Christian has received the gift of that self-same Spirit, and every man is endowed with some gifts from God. All God’s gifts are held on similar conditions. They may be neglected, and, if so, will cease as surely as an untended fire dies down into grey ashes. The highest and the lowest are alike in this. An unused muscle atrophies, an uncultivated capacity diminishes. The grace of God itself wanes if we are unfaithful stewards. The gift of the Spirit is not a substitute for our own activity, and the extent to which we possess it is determined by our rousing ourselves to tend the sacred flame.

Timothy had probably been depressed by Paul’s imprisonment and the prospect of his death. He had been accustomed to lean upon the Apostle, and now the strong prop was to be withdrawn, and he was to stand alone, and, worst of all, to take up some of the tasks dropped by Paul. Therefore the Apostle tries to brace up his drooping spirit with his clear clarion note. The message comes to us all, that discouraging circumstances and heavy responsibilities are reasons for gathering ourselves up to our work, and for ‘stirring up’ smouldering fires kindled by God in our hearts, and too often left untended by us.

Paul points to the proper effects of the gift of God, as the ground of his counsel That Spirit does not infuse cowardice, which blenches at danger or shrinks from duty, as probably Timothy was tempted to do; but it breathes ‘power’ into the weak, enabling them to do and bear all things, and ‘love,’ which makes eager for service to God and man, at whatever cost, and ‘self-control,’ which curbs the tendencies to seek easy tasks and to listen to the voices within or without whispering ignoble avoidance of the narrow way. Surely this exhortation in its most general form should come to all young hearts, and summon them to open their doors for the entrance of that Divine Helper who will make them strong, loving, and masters of themselves.

III. The second exhortation in 2Ti 3:14-17 , like the first, presupposes Timothy’s previous Christian character, and draws some of its persuasive force from his home and the dear ones there – an argument which, no doubt, Paul knew would tell on such a clinging, affectionate nature.

We note the double reason for steadfastness-the teachers, and the early beginning of the knowledge of the truth. It is thought a sign of independence and advancement by many young people nowadays to fling away their mother’s faith, just because it was hers, and taught them by her when they were infants. The fact that it was is no bar against investigation, nor against the adoption of other conclusions, if needful; but in the present temper of men, it is well to remember that it creates no presumption against a creed that some white-haired Lois, or some tender mother Eunice has striven to engrave it on the young heart.

But the great reason adduced for steadfast grip of the truth is that the ‘sacred writings’ by which are to be understood the Old Testament have power, as Timothy had experience, to give a wisdom which led to salvation, and to ‘furnish’ a Christian, especially. the Christian teacher, for ‘every good work.’ In either of the two usually adopted renderings of verse 16, the divine origin of Scripture and its value for the manifold processes for perfecting character are broadly asserted. That origin and these uses are unaffected by variety of view as to the methods of inspiration or by critical researches. It will always be true that the Bible is the chief instrument employed by the Spirit of power and of love and of self-control to mould our characters into beauty of holiness. He who has that Spirit in his heart and the Scriptures in his hands has all he needs.

The one exhortation for such is to ‘abide in’ what he has received. That counsel as given to Timothy was probably directed chiefly against temptations very unlike those which attack us. But the spirit of it applies to us. It enjoins no irrational conservatism, scowling at all new thoughts, but it bids us aim at keeping up our personal hold of the central truths of Christ’s incarnation, sacrifice, and gift of the Divine Spirit, which hold is slackened by worldliness and carelessness twenty times for once that it is so from intellectual dissatisfaction with the principles of Christianity.

Timothy was relegated, not only to his early memoriam, but to his own experience. He had not only learned these things from revered lips, but had been ‘assured of’ them by the response they had found and the effects they had produced in himself. That is the deepest ground of our holding fast by the gospel, and it is one we may all have. ‘He that believeth hath the witness in himself,’ and may wait with equanimity while the dust of controversy clears off, for he ‘knows in whom he has believed,’ and what that Saviour has done for and in him;

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2Ti 1:1-2

1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus, 2to Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

2Ti 1:1 “Paul” Saul of Tarsus is first called Paul in Act 13:9. It is probable that most Jews of the diaspora had a Hebrew name (Saul) and a Greek name (Paul). If so, then Saul’s parents gave him this name, but why, then, does “Paul” suddenly appear in Acts 13? Possibly (1) others began to call him by this name or (2) he began to refer to himself by the term “little” or “least.” The Greek name Paulos meant “little.” Several theories have been advanced about the origin of his Greek name: (1) the second century tradition that Paul was short, fat, bald, bow-legged, bushy eye-browed, and had protruding eyes, deriving from a non-canonical book from Thessalonika called Paul and Thekla, is a possible source of the name; (2) Paul calls himself the “least of the saints” because he persecuted the Church (cf. Act 9:1-2; 1Co 15:9; Eph 3:8; 1Ti 1:15). Some have seen this “leastness” as the origin of the self-chosen title. However, in a book like Galatians, where he emphasizes his independence from and equality with the Jerusalem Twelve, this is somewhat unlikely (cf. 2Co 11:5; 2Co 12:11; 2 Cor. 15:10).

“an apostle” This came from the Greek word “send” (apostell). See Special Topic at 1Ti 1:1. Jesus chose twelve men to be with Him in a special sense and called them “Apostles” (cf. Luk 6:13). This term was often used of Jesus being sent from the Father (cf. Mat 10:40; Mat 15:24; Mar 9:37; Luk 9:48; Joh 4:34; Joh 5:24; Joh 5:30; Joh 5:36-38; Joh 6:29; Joh 6:38-40; Joh 6:57; Joh 7:29; Joh 8:42; Joh 10:36; Joh 11:42; Joh 17:3; Joh 17:8; Joh 17:18; Joh 17:21; Joh 17:23; Joh 17:25; Joh 20:21). In Jewish sources, an apostle was someone sent as an official representative of another, similar to “ambassador” (cf. 2Co 5:20).

“Christ” This is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew term messiah, which meant “an anointed one.” It implied “one called and equipped by God for a specific task.” In the OT three groups of leaders priests, kings, and prophets were anointed. Jesus fulfilled all three of these anointed offices (cf. Heb 1:2-3). He is the promised One who was to inaugurate the new age of righteousness. See SPECIAL TOPIC: MESSIAH at 1Ti 1:1.

“Jesus” This Hebrew name meant “YHWH saves,” “YHWH is salvation,”or “YHWH brings salvation.” It is the same as the OT name “Joshua.” “Jesus” is derived from the Hebrew word for salvation, hosea, suffixed to the covenant name for God, “YHWH.” It was the name communicated by God through an angel to Mary (cf. Mat 1:21).

SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY

“by the will of God” This same introductory phrase is used in 1Co 1:1; 2Co 1:1; Eph 1:1; and Col 1:1. Paul was convinced that God had chosen him to be an Apostle. This special sense of calling started at his Damascus road conversion (cf. Act 9:1-22; Act 23:3-16; Act 26:9-18). Paul often asserted his God-given authority and calling to affirm his writings as being uniquely from God (i.e., inspired, cf. 2Ti 3:16; 1Co 2:9-13; 1Th 2:13).

NASB, NKJV”according to the promise of life”

NRSV”for the sake of the promise of life”

TEV”sent to proclaim the promised life”

NJB”in accordance with his promise of life”

Paul is asserting that his salvation, calling, and equipping for ministry are all based on God’s promises of real life, eternal life through Christ (cf. 2Ti 1:1-2; 2Ti 1:9; 2Ti 1:13). Paul alludes to this concept of God’s having and giving life several times in the Pastoral Letters (cf. 2Ti 1:1; 1Ti 6:15-16; 1Ti 6:19; Tit 1:2).

2Ti 1:2 “to Timothy, my beloved son” This is metaphorical for Paul being Timothy’s spiritual father in the gospel (cf. 2Ti 2:1; Tim. 2Ti 1:2; Tit 1:4). This opening paragraph shows their mutual love. See SPECIAL TOPIC: TIMOTHY at 1Ti 1:1.

“Grace, mercy and peace” Notice the commonality and differences in Paul’s opening greetings

1. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:7; 1Co 1:3; 2Co 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Php 1:2; 1Th 1:2; Phm 1:3)

2. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father” (Col 1:2)

3. “Grace to you and peace” (1Th 1:1)

4. “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” (1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 1:2)

5. “Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior” (Tit 1:4)

Notice that there is variety, but some elements are standard

1. “Grace” begins all greetings. It is a Christianized form of the standard Greek opening. It focuses on the character of God.

2. “Peace” is the result of humans trusting in the trustworthy God, faithing His faithfulness.

3. “Mercy” is another way of describing God’s character and is unique to I and 2 Timothy. This term was used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew term hesed (i.e., covenant love and loyalty). God is gracious and trustworthy.

4. The Father and Son are mentioned in each greeting (in 1 Thessalonians they are mentioned in the previous phrase). They are always grammatically linked. This was one way the NT writers asserted the full deity of Jesus of Nazareth. This is also true of the use of the OT titles for YHWH applied to Jesus (i.e., Lord and Savior).

“from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord” The opening phrase which follows “grace, mercy and peace” has one preposition (apo) linking the Father and the Son in an equal grammatical relationship (cf. 1Ti 1:2; Tit 1:4 and 2Ti 1:2). This was a technique used by Paul to assert the deity of Jesus.

“Father” is not used in the sense of sexual generation or chronological sequence, but intimate family relationship. God chose family terms to reveal Himself to humanity (cf. Hosea 2-3, where God is shown as passionate, faithful lover, and Hosea 11 where He is shown as loving father and mother).

The Deity of revelation is not the Prime Mover or the First Cause of Greek philosophy, but the Father of Christ Jesus. The Bible is not a human-reasoned philosophy but a divine self-disclosure, a revelation which cannot be discovered by human analysis. See SPECIAL TOPIC: FATHER at 1Ti 1:2.

“Lord” God revealed His covenant name YHWH to Moses in Exo 3:14. It was from the Hebrew verb “to be.” The Jews were later afraid to pronounce this holy name, when they read the Scriptures, lest they take it in vain and break one of the Ten Commandments (cf. Exo 20:7; Deu 5:11). Therefore, they substituted another word, Adon, which meant, “husband, owner, master, lord.” This is the source of the English translation of YHWH as Lord. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY at 2Ti 1:1.

When the NT authors called Jesus “Lord” (kurios), they were asserting the Deity of Jesus. This affirmation became the early church’s baptismal formula, “Jesus is Lord” (cf. Rom 10:9-13; Php 2:6-11).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

apostle. App-189.

Jesus Christ. App-98.

by. App-104.

will. App-102.

God. App-98.

according to. App-104.

life. App-170.

in. App-104.

Christ Jesus. App-98.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

2Ti 1:1-2.] ADDRESS AND GREETING.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Shall we turn now to second Timothy? This is the last epistle that Paul wrote. He is again in prison in Rome. It would seem that he was released from the first imprisonment and allowed a little more time of liberty to preach the Gospel. And putting together from the various epistles and from the book of Acts, it would seem that he went to Miletus and then on over to Corinth and to Troas, probably to Ephesus, and then on back where he was arrested and taken back to Rome.

Paul realizes that the situation is now changed in Rome. He realizes that the sentence of death is upon him. He knows that his time is very short, that he will soon be executed by Nero for his faith in Jesus Christ. And so realizing that his execution is only a matter of time, Paul writes his final letter to Timothy, his son in the faith. This young man that Paul had discipled and spent so much time with to invest in Timothy’s life so that he could carry on the work of Paul once he was gone.

So Paul now is writing his final epistle, this is the last of Paul’s epistles. Shortly after this, he was beheaded there on the Appian Way just outside of Rome.

So,

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus ( 2Ti 1:1 ),

You see, the sentence of death is now hanging on him. So what’s he talk about? Life in Christ Jesus, that eternal life. Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of those who can kill your body, and after that they don’t have any power” ( Mat 10:28 ). And so as Paul is writing with the sentence of death upon him, knowing that his execution is only a matter of time, it is interesting how he writes about life. I’m “an apostle by the will of God, according to the promise of life,” not of death but “of life which is in Christ Jesus.”

John tells us, “This is the record, God has given to us eternal life, and that life is in the Son. And he who has the Son has life” ( 1Jn 5:11 ). “According to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus.” Oh thank God, even with the sentence of death hanging over us, we can talk about life, that eternal life, that age-abiding life that we have in Christ Jesus. When the rich young ruler came to Jesus and fell there at His feet, he said, “Good Master, what good thing must I do to inherit this age-abiding life” ( Mat 19:16 )? He saw in Christ that quality of life and he desired it, that quality of life that is ours through our faith in Jesus Christ. “He who has the Son has life.”

To Timothy, my dearly beloved son ( 2Ti 1:2 ):

Notice the endearing terms of Paul now towards Timothy as he realizes this is probably the last time I’m going to write, be able to write to him “my dearly beloved son.” And so there’s a lot of emotion, a lot of pathos in this second letter to Timothy because of the background of this whole epistle.

Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord ( 2Ti 1:2 ).

These beautiful gifts of God: His grace, His mercy, His peace.

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day ( 2Ti 1:3 );

The men that God uses are men of prayer. Paul is constantly in his epistles referring to his prayer life. He was a man who lived and slept and breathed prayer. He lived in close relationship with God and with Jesus Christ, and so is the case with those men that God uses, they are men of prayer. And here Paul speaks about his praying for Timothy without ceasing night and day, because Paul realized that if the ministry of the Word was to be carried on in truth, really the heavy burden was going to be upon Timothy once Paul left. When Paul sent Timothy to the church in Philippi, he said, “I have sent unto you my beloved son Timothy because I don’t have anyone else who is likeminded as I am, who really has you at his heart” ( Php 2:19-20 ).

Timothy was one that had really modeled his life after Paul. Paul could say, hey, this young man has caught the vision. This young man knows my heart. And so he realized that Timothy was going to be the natural one to carry on that same ministry of the grace of God to the people. And that is no doubt why Paul invested so much time in prayer for Timothy, night and day. Oh Lord, he’s a young man. Lord, he doesn’t have the background and the experience but God, use him, help him, bless him, Lord. Oh, wouldn’t you love to have Paul praying for you night and day?

And Paul said,

I greatly desire to see you, because I remember your tears ( 2Ti 1:4 ),

No doubt the last time Paul had seen Timothy there at Ephesus and had to leave him, Timothy was crying, probably wanted to go with Paul. Paul, they believed, was arrested in Ephesus at this time when the Roman church began to, I mean the Roman government began to persecute the church again. And probably as they bound Paul to take him back to Rome, as he said his farewell to Timothy, Timothy was just weeping and sobbing. And yet it was necessary that he stay and establish those brethren in the church of Ephesus, which were being harassed by the false teachers that had come in. And so Timothy, weeping; and Paul had vividly in his mind this beloved co-laborer, his son in the Lord, he had in his mind the tears as they were coming down Timothy’s face. He said, Oh, I greatly desire to see you. I remember your tears and I love to see you.

that I might be filled with joy ( 2Ti 1:4 );

What a beautiful bond is created through Jesus Christ among men and among women. This family of God, it exceeds even our natural family. The bond that God creates in our hearts and in our lives for each other, that love that is there. Paul said,

I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith ( 2Ti 1:5 )

Or the pure faith.

that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois, and in your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded is also in you ( 2Ti 1:5 ).

So he came from a good line, you know, a godly heritage. What a blessing it is. What a blessing to have a godly grandmother. What a blessing to have a godly mother, the faith that was in my grandmother, the faith that was in my mother, the faith that God has planted in my heart.

You know, it’s an interesting thing my grandmother was a very special woman. She lived in Santa Barbara and the pastor that came to the church there was just a young man, he wasn’t married yet. And so she used to go with him on his calls so that there would be no questions in the minds of people if he called on some of the young wives or whatever, my grandmother was always with him and made his calls with him. She lived a life dedicated to the Lord, to serve the Lord. That was the whole passion of her life was to serve the Lord.

When she was in the hospital dying of cancer, they were short of nurses and so she would get up and go around and take bed pans to people and took care of them and waited on people there in the hospital because that was her life, just service. It was a life of service to God and a trust in God.

I recently found out that inscribed on her tombstone are the words “Jesus never fails.” And that was just the story of her life, it was a life of faith in the Lord. And so the family members, because that was just, was sort of the hallmark of her life, “Jesus never fails,” they put that on her tombstone. I didn’t know that, but over in Fairhaven here in Santa Ana on my mother’s tombstone, we have placed “Jesus never fails,” because the faith that was in my grandmother was passed down to my mother.

And I could remember from a child, my younger brother had asthma. And when he would have his attacks and start wheezing, couldn’t sleep, we had an old rocking chair that creaked. And as a little child, I could remember lying in bed hearing my brother wheeze, you know, that asthmatic wheeze that you know, it has a unique sound to it, and I could hear that. I could hear the creaking rocking chair out in the other room and I could hear my mother singing Jesus Never Fails. Jesus never fails. Heaven and earth may pass away but Jesus never fails. And I would go to sleep hearing her rock my brother during his asthmatic attacks singing of the unfailing grace of Jesus Christ. Whenever we were sick, she would come in and sing to us, Jesus Never Fails. My brother was healed of asthma; the Lord didn’t fail. And all through our life the Lord has taken care of us. The Lord didn’t fail.

And so because this was so much a part of her life, without knowing it was on my grandmother’s tombstone, we had it put on her tombstone over here in Santa Ana. And so there in the cemetery in Montecito you’ll find a gravestone of my grandmother’s that says, “Jesus never fails”. Over here in Fairhaven you’ll find my mother’s gravestone that says, “Jesus never fails,” the faith that came from my grandmother to my mother and now passed on to us and we, of course, passing it on to our sons and now they, too, their sons and grandchildren and all. Oh how glorious it is the heritage that is ours in the Lord and in the things of the Spirit and it’s just, it’s just a beautiful thing.

Paul said I know the faith that was in your grandmother Lois and also in your mother Eunice and I know it’s in you. Oh, the greatest thing that we can offer and give to our children is this heritage of trusting God in faith. How important that we pass it on.

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, that is in thee by the putting on of my hands ( 2Ti 1:6 ).

Now Paul has a couple of times already made reference to this. When Timothy was a young man and began to join Paul in the ministry there in Lystra, the elders laid hands on Timothy and prayed for him. And as they did, the Lord gave to Paul a word of prophecy in which the Lord spoke to Timothy, telling him the gifts that the Lord was giving to him and outlining somewhat the ministry that Timothy was to fulfill. And Paul has made mention before of this experience that Timothy had when the elders laid hands on him and he received the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit and the word of prophecy directing his life and his ministry. And so Paul said, remember and stir up the gift that is in you that you received when the hands were laid upon you and the gift of prophecy was exercised.

It is possible for us to neglect the gifts of God within our lives, but God did not give us these gifts to be neglected. He gave us these gifts to be used. And so Paul’s exhortation to Timothy, “Stir up that gift that is in you,” begin to exercise it again. By faith, begin to exercise again that gift of the Spirit that God has given unto you.

For God has not given us the spirit of fear ( 2Ti 1:7 );

Now evidently, Timothy became a little fearful in the exercise of this gift. And I think that that is a tool that Satan often uses to discourage our exercises of the gifts of the Spirit. Fear. I don’t know what people are going to think, you know, if I say that to them. And we have this fear that many times restricts us from the exercise of gifts. But “God hasn’t given us the spirit of fear;”

but of power, love, and a sound mind ( 2Ti 1:7 ).

Spirit of power. Oh, thank God, the spirit of love, how important, and a sound mind.

So,

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God ( 2Ti 1:8 );

Now there are a lot of situations where we can just keep our mouths shut and stay out of trouble when we really ought to be opening our mouths and getting into trouble. You know, when people are saying blasphemous things we can just keep our mouth shut and sort of shrug and say, you know, poor stupid soul. Or we can say to them, Do you realize what you are saying? What a filthy mouth you have! Doesn’t it bother you to have such a filthy mind and mouth?

I’ve often said to people when they are using the name of Jesus in a blasphemous way, Hey, that hurts me. You’re talking about a man who I love more than anyone else, who died to save me from my sins, and it hurts me to hear you talk about Him that way. Hey. They sometimes get upset and they, you know, look like, Who do you think you are, you know, and all that kind of stuff. But yet Paul tells Timothy that “God has given us the power of the spirit of power, of love and of a sound mind.” Therefore, don’t be ashamed of our Lord but be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, we’ll get to a little bit, “They who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” ( 2Ti 3:12 ). The promise in the Bible that I hate the most.

The power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began ( 2Ti 1:9 ),

So God who called us and saved us, but it wasn’t according to our works. We are not saved according to our works but according to the purposes of God.

Now this was the message that Paul was proclaiming and the message that was being perverted by the legalism that was creeping into the church. Now remember that Timothy was ministering there in Ephesus, to the church in Ephesus. And already there were those seeds of legalism that had taken root and were beginning to turn the people away from the glorious gospel of grace that Paul had proclaimed. And Paul speaks to Timothy of his concern that they were turning away from the grace of God, and for him to establish them in the grace of God.

A few years later Jesus wrote a letter to Ephesus and all was not well within the church. In fact, Jesus called the church of Ephesus to repentance and He said unless you repent I will remove My presence from you. They had come to the place where their whole religion was a works thing, because the Lord said, I know thy works, thy labor and so forth, and thy works. They had come to a legal relationship with the Lord. They had come to a salvation based upon works. “Who saved us, and called us,” Paul said, “not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

Now the result of a legal relationship to the Lord is really the loss of relationship because Jesus doesn’t want a legal relationship with you. He desires a loving relationship with you. He wants you to relate to Him in love. And so He said to Ephesus, “You’ve left your first love”(Rev 2:4 ). You’ve got all these works, man, you got this whole thing going all kinds of works, but I have this against you, because you’ve left your first love. I don’t want a legal relationship with you. I want a loving relationship with you.

And tonight Jesus is looking for a loving relationship with you. He’s not interested in all of these little rules and regulations and keeping your works up. He’s interested in your just loving Him supremely, this loving relationship. “I have this against you, you’ve left your first love. Now remember from whence you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works over” ( Rev 2:4-5 ). That is, the works that were motivated and prompted by love. “Or else, I will move the candlestick out of his place.” Where was the place of the candlestick? Jesus was walking in the midst. So Jesus is saying, I’ll take my presence from your midst if you try to have a legal relationship with Me. That’s not what I want, I want love relationship.

And so Paul is encouraging him, in the grace God has called us, with this holy calling. But God didn’t call you because of your works or because you were deserving or worthy of it, but just to accomplish His purposes of love and of grace which was given us in Christ before the world began.

But it is now made manifest ( 2Ti 1:10 )

God has always loved us but the love was manifested.

by the appearing of Jesus Christ ( 2Ti 1:10 ),

You see, “Heavens declare the glory of God; the earth shows his handiwork. Day unto day they utter their speech” ( Psa 19:1 , Psa 19:2 ). I have no argument with the man who says, God speaks to me in nature. God speaks to me in nature. And how I love for God to speak to me through nature. How I love to walk along the beach. How I love to get into the surf. How I love to watch a beautiful sunset. How I love to sit under the stars out in the desert and just look up into the heavens and the vastness of the galaxies and all. How I love to see the raging streams. I love Yosemite. I love nature. God speaks to me through nature. I have no argument. The Bible says that God speaks to you through nature. “Day unto day they utter their speech. Night unto night their voice goes forth. There isn’t a speech or a language where their voice isn’t heard.” Yes, I believe that God can speak to you when you go out to the desert. When you go up to the mountains. When you take a Sunday off and just go out among nature and just enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. I believe that God speaks to you there. I have no argument with that.

But what nature cannot and does not tell you is how much God loves you. It took more than nature to reveal that. It took Jesus Christ. It is interesting that whenever God wants to show you His love or to prove His love to you, He always points to the cross. And so God who loved us before the world ever existed, but has manifested it by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ.

who has abolished death ( 2Ti 1:10 ),

Now here Paul got the death sentence. Nero says, you know, death sentence is upon him, but Paul says God has abolished death. Oh, thank God for the life that is ours.

and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel ( 2Ti 1:10 ):

The Christian does not die. It is wrong to say of a child of God he died. The Christian does not die. Paul the apostle said “we know that when the earthly tent of our body is dissolved,” when my body goes back to dust, decomposes and goes back to dust, I “have a building of God, not made with hands, that’s eternal in the heavens. So then we who are in these bodies, in these tents, do often groan, earnestly desiring to move out of this old tent: not to be unembodied spirit, but to be clothed upon with a new body which is from heaven. For we know that, as long as we are living in these bodies, we are absent from the Lord: but we would choose rather to be absent from these bodies, to be present with the Lord” ( 2Co 5:1-8 ).

So when a Christian dies, rather than saying, Oh, he died last week, we should say, Oh, he moved last week. Have you seen John lately? Oh, didn’t you know, he moved into a beautiful mansion. He’s no longer living in that old tent. “Who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality.”

Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection, and the life:” Yes, Lord, I know on the last day he’s going to rise. No, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” I’m here now, and “he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And if you live and believe in me, you’ll never die”. He said, “Do you believe this?” ( Joh 11:25 , Joh 11:26 ) That’s the Gospel. That’s the good news that we have to proclaim. The Lord has abolished death. He who lives and believes shall never die. Oh, move, yes. That’s important and that’s desirable. I wouldn’t want to live in this dumb, old tent forever.

Everyday I live the Lord is making it just a little bit easier, more desirable to move. I’m getting aches and creaks that I’ve never had before. I’ve had the most difficult time walking across the floor the first thing in the morning. I mean, it takes awhile now to get warmed up. My feet just kill me in the morning, especially after a few sets of tennis. Not a funny thing, it’s miserable, growing old. The old tent slowly dissolving, but I have a building of God for God has abolished death and brought us life and immortality.

Whereunto [he said] I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles ( 2Ti 1:11 ).

The three things that Paul was called to do. He was a preacher, he was an apostle, he was a teacher. Preaching is ordained by God to bring the unbeliever to a faith in Jesus Christ. Preaching is not for the Christian or the saint or the church, preaching is for the unregenerate. For in the preaching, I am proclaiming to the unregenerate God’s good news to man. You don’t have to go on in sin and die in your sin and trespasses. You can have eternal life through Jesus Christ. Repent; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s preaching.

Teaching is what the church needs. Now the weakness of the church today is that there is too much preaching and not enough teaching in the church. The church has been preached almost to death, and what the church needs is teaching. Teaching us how to walk, teaching us how to grow, teaching us how to develop in our relationship with God. That’s what the church needs, the teaching of the Word, and that’s where the church is failing in a real teaching ministry. So Paul had a combination of a preaching and a teaching ministry, called as an apostle.

For the which cause [he said] I also suffer these things: nevertheless ( 2Ti 1:12 )

These things you know, I’m in prison, I’ve been sentenced to death and it’s because of my teaching and preaching that I’m here in prison. Nevertheless, he said,

I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed ( 2Ti 1:12 ),

Now notice, he didn’t say I know what I believe. Now there’s a lot of people today say, Well I know what I believe. You know, I believe in the Orthodoxy. I believe in the Apostle’s Creed. I believe, and they know what they believe. But it’s not what you believe or in what you believe but it’s in whom you believe that’s important. “I know in whom I have believed.”

and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day ( 2Ti 1:12 ).

I have committed my life to Him. I am persuaded He’s able to keep it. I know in whom I have believed. Correct orthodoxy is important, but a Creed can’t save you, only Jesus Christ can save you. It’s not belief in a system. It’s not belief in a religion. It’s not belief in a doctrinal position. It’s belief in a person that brings salvation. It’s the belief in Jesus Christ. And so we know, we need to know in whom we have believed.

Paul said, “I’m persuaded He’s able to keep that which I have committed”. That word “I have committed” in the Greek is an interesting word. It’s a word that is used for making a bank deposit. I’ve entrusted it. So I’ve entrusted my life to Him. He’s able to keep it. Nero may take my head off but He’s going to keep my life because I know in whom I have believed. I am persuaded He’s able to keep me.

Hold fast that form of sound words, which you have heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus ( 2Ti 1:13 ).

As these false teachers were beginning to come along. And you remember Paul in his last recorded visit in the book of Acts, with the elders of Ephesus, as he had come to Miletus and he had sent a message to the elders in Ephesus to meet him in Miletus because he was in a hurry to get back to Jerusalem, wanted to get back there before the feast, that he might take the offering back to the church in Jerusalem that he had collected among the Gentile churches. And so they met him on the beach, the ship was offshore waiting for Paul. And he was talking with the elders of the church of Ephesus. He said I’m going to Jerusalem. I don’t know what’s going to happen. All I know is everywhere I’m going, the Spirit’s warning me I’m going to be bound and so forth. Beyond that, I really don’t know, the Lord hasn’t shown me.

But I want you to bear record, that night and day I bore faithful witness of Jesus Christ as I lived among you and I told you and I showed you the things of the Lord. Now he said I know that after I depart, grievous wolves are going to come in not really with pure motives. They’re not going to spare the flock of God. They’re going to bring in these pernicious doctrines. And even from your own midst, men are going to rise up and trying to draw men after themselves, trying to create little factious groups. And Paul was weeping. He said I know that this is going to happen. I can’t stop it. But he encouraged them to the faithfulness of the Word and the faithfulness of the teaching that he had given to them.

Well, it was true. After Paul left, these men did come in. And so as Timothy is there and trying to buck these doctrines that are raising up their ugly heads within the church of Ephesus and these men who are trying to create these little divisions by getting these weird doctrines and espousing some strange thing and all. Paul says, “hold fast that form of sound doctrine or words which you have heard of me.”

That good thing which was committed unto you ( 2Ti 1:14 )

That is, the truth, the word of God.

keep by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us. For this you know, that all of they which are in Asia have turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes ( 2Ti 1:14-15 ).

Those in Asia had now turned their backs upon Paul. He was no longer able to be a strong influence there. They didn’t have to fear him come in apostolic power to correct their false doctrines anymore and they were becoming emboldened in their heresies and in the drawing of people after themselves. Paul names a couple of them, “they’ve turned away from me”. What a sad thing. Paul was really pretty much forsaken now. With the sentence of death upon him, even Demas who had been a companion for so long had forsaken him. Others have fled. Luke only was remaining with him there in Rome, but there was one faithful brother, Onesiphorus.

The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains ( 2Ti 1:16 ):

Paul was chained there in a dungeon in Rome and Onesiphorus went to Rome and searched through dungeon after dungeon until he finally found Paul and there ministered to him and encouraged him.

But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and he found me. And the Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, you know very well ( 2Ti 1:17-18 ).

So this Onesiphorus had been just a blessed man and had ministered to Paul while Paul was in Ephesus and then came to Rome and searched until he found him and there ministered to him. Paul praised God’s mercy and blessing upon him for it.

“

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

2Ti 1:1. , Paul) This epistle has three divisions.

I.The Inscription, 2Ti 1:1-2.

II.An Invitation, Come to me in prison, variously hinted at.

1.He expresses his affection for Timothy, 2Ti 1:3-4,

And kindly exhorts him: be not ashamed of me, 2Ti 1:6-7; to which are subjoined sad instances of abandonment, 2Ti 1:15, and blessed examples of attachment, 2Ti 1:16-17.

2.The twofold proposition, Be strong, and commit thy office to faithful men, 2Ti 2:1-2. The first part is treated, 2Ti 2:3-13; the second, 2Ti 2:14, with an exhortation to Timothy to behave himself as a man of God before his journey, 2Ti 2:15-16; 2Ti 3:1-2; 2Ti 4:1-2.

3.Come quickly, 2Ti 4:9. Here Paul-

1.Mentions his solitary state, 2Ti 4:10-11.

2.He orders his books to be brought, 2Ti 4:13.

3.He admonishes him concerning the adversary, 2Ti 4:14-15.

4.He points out the inconstancy of men, and proclaims the faithfulness of God, 2Ti 4:16-17.

4.Come before winter. This invitation is encompassed with salutations, 2Ti 4:19-20.

Paul wished Timothy to come to him in prison without fear, and he was about to deliver up to him before his decease the lamp (torch-light) of the evangelical office, ch. 2Ti 4:5-6. This epistle is the testament and last words [cygnea cantio, swanlike death-song] of Paul. It was written long after the first Epistle to Timothy, and yet the tone of both is very much alike.- , according to the promise) Paul subserves the fulfilment of this promise in the discharge of his office. So , according to, in accordance with, Joh 2:6 : comp. on the particle and on the truth itself, Tit 1:1-2.-, of life) prepared both for me and thee and the elect. This is the secret spring of the power, which he exhibits in exhorting Timothy, 2Ti 1:10; 2Ti 2:8. [In fact the journey which he wishes to be undertaken by Timothy did not seem to be without risk of life.-V. g.]

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

2Ti 1:1

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God,-Apart from any work or merit of his own, God chose him for the work, and it was that sovereign will which chose him as an apostle, which guided him through his eventful life, and which brought him to the prison in Rome.

according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus,-This indicates the object or intention of his appointment as an apostle, which was to make known, to publish abroad, the promise of eternal life. He was evidently under the expectation of death at the time of writing.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The second letter to Timothy was written from prison. Paul, conscious of the evil existing in the Church, forecast the terrible days that were coming. He was conscious also of the grave responsibility resting on Timothy. He introduced his letter by a revelation of his affection for Timothy, and his thankfulness for him.

His first appeal had to do with Timothy himself. He charged him to “stir up the gift” he had already received, and not to be “ashamed . . . of the testimony.” The qualities of the gift were described as consisting in capacity for oversight, and government in the Church. This must not be exercised in a spirit of cowardice. The kindling to a flame of such a gift would not make the pathway easy. A twofold incentive was revealed in the greatness of the Gospel committed to him as a deposit, and his own experience and convictions.

In this paragraph we have five main assertions, “I was appointed,” “I suffered,” “I am not ashamed,” “I know Him,” “I am persuaded.” There is yet another, which is subsidiary in the sense of being resultant, “I have believed.” Looking back, he wrote, “I was appointed.” Thinking of the present, he declared, ‘I suffered,” ”I am not ashamed,” “I know Him.” Looking to the future, he said, “I am persuaded.”

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

1:1, 2. Address and Greeting.-Paul to Timothy, his well-loved son, these: Paul writing with authority as one who has received his commission from Christ Jesus, through no choice of his own but by the will of God, who chose him because He had promised life to the world, the life which was realized in Christ Jesus, and who needed men to tell of that promise. I pray God the Father and Christ Jesus Our Lord to give you grace for your work, help in your difficulties, peace in your heart.

As in I, the address is partly official and authoritative, as he wants to strengthen Timothys authority () partly personal and affectionate; and this second element is stronger than in I ( . , as contrasted with , with ).

. ] so 1Co 1:1, 2Co 1:1, Col 1:1, Eph 1:1; cf. Gal 1:4.

] qualifying , cf. I 1:1, Gal 3:29; it gives the standard by which God chose him and to which his Apostleship must be true; cf. 10, 11 . . . . It is expanded in Tit 1:2 . It is naturally emphasized by a writer who is face to face with death and is going to exhort Timothy to face it too (2:11-13); but the thought is not only of life beyond the grave, but of a life which begins here and persists through death; cf. 10 and I 4:8.

] cf. 1Co 4:17, Php 2:20-22. The latter passage, combined with 1:15, 4:11, 16 infra, perhaps suggests that the thought is not only loved, but loved as an only son is loved; the only son on whom I can rely, Hom. Oba 1:2Oba 1:2. 365, .

2. Cf. I 1:2 notes.

3-2:13. Thanksgiving to God for Timothys past life, and appeal for renewed efforts, for courage to face danger, and for loyal adherence to the apostolic teaching.

3-5. Thanksgiving-called out by (a) the writers own feelings and memory (3, 4), and (b) by some recent reminder of Timothys faith (5).

Paraphrase. My first word must be to thank God-that God whom my forefathers worshipped and whom I worship with a pure conscience-a thanksgiving which springs up in my heart whenever I make mention of you, as I never fail to do night and morning in my prayers; for I have a yearning to see you once more, as I remember the tears you shed at our parting: if you could only come, my happiness would be complete. And now I have a special ground of thankfulness in the recent reminder of the sincerity of your faith-a faith which you too have inherited, for it dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, aye, and I have had many and many a proof that it dwells equally in you.

This section has striking verbal resemblance with Rom 1:8-12 (cf. also 1Th 1:2, 1Th 1:3, 1Th 1:3:6); but there is no reason to suspect deliberate imitation by a writer copying St. Paul (so Holtzmann), as the thought is common in literary correspondence of the time; cf. J. A. Robinson on Eph., Additional Note On some current Epistolary Phrases.

3. ] I 1:12 note. ] cf. Act 22:14 : 24:14 Php 3:4-6.

.] cf. I 1:5. This was true of him even while a Jew; cf. Act 23:1. The sense of the real continuity of the Christian with the Jewish faith is constant in St. Paul; cf. Gal_3 passim, 6:16, Eph 1:1-11, Rom 11:13-24.

As in I 1:3 the construction is not clear: for what does he thank God? probably for Timothys life and loyalty. is almost equivalent to when, as often as, but adds the thought of the correspondence of the thankfulness with the thought of Timothy, : to think of thee is to thank God for thee; to think more is to thank more; to think every day is to thank every day.

] either with prec. in my evening and morning prayers, cf. I 5:5; or with seq. all night and day longing to see you, cf. 1Th 3:10. The balance of the sentence supports the latter construction.

4. ] cf. Act 20:37, though this can scarcely be an allusion to that scene. Lacrim flos cordis (Bengel).

] perhaps to be joined closely with following: that I may be filled with joy by the receipt of the reminder which your coming would give (so R.V. margin, W.-H); or . is loosely constructed with . I thank God on the recent receipt of a reminder of your faith. This implies that he had lately heard news about Timothy, cf. Col 1:4, or perhaps had received an affectionate letter from him.

5. ] properly of an external reminder, cf. 2 P 1:13, 3:1 and , 2:14; but a comparison of Mar 14:72 with Luk 22:61 makes it doubtful whether the difference can be pressed in Hellenistic Greek; cf. Clem. Hom. i. 1, . . . : Marc. Aurel. vii. 27, x. 34.

(not ) gives partly the reason for ., sincere, for it was inherited as well as personal. Timothy, like the writer (3), has a family religion behind him; cf. the appeal of Virtue to the young Heracles, , Xen. Mem. ii. 1; cf: I 2:8-15 note, p. 31. This does not necessarily imply that Lois and Eunice had become Christians, though it is probable. The language might have been used by St. Paul of religious Jewesses who had trained the young Timothy in the Jewish expectations of a Messiah, cf. 3:15.

] cf. 12, Rom 8:38, Rom 14:14, Rom 15:14. implies steady and persistent faith, Hillard. It was always at home in their hearts; cf. 14.

6-2:13. Appeal to Timothy for greater effort, for courage to face danger and difficulty, and for loyalty to the Apostles doctrine. The appeal is based upon the reality of Gods power to strengthen him (7-10), the example of the Apostle (11, 12, 2:9, 10), and of Onesiphorus (15-18), the memory of the Risen Christ (2:8), and the sense that the doctrine is a sacred trust (13, 14, 2:1, 2). The key-notes of the section are (7, 8. 12, 2:1), (8, 12, 16), (12, 14, 2:2), (8, 2:3, 9), (loyalty to a loyal Master, 1:5, 12, 13, 2:2, 11, 13). There are many points of kinship in phrase and thought with the earlier letters, cf. Rom 1:16, Rom 1:8:15, 1Co 15:55, Eph 2:5-9, but none suggest conscious adaptation. The writer is perhaps feeling his way towards the request that Timothy will come to him at once to Rome. For that he will need courage, and he must leave faithful men in charge of his work at Ephesus.

6-14. Paraphrase. Feeling this confidence, I write to remind you to stir into full life that gift of God which is within you, which was given by the laying of my hands upon your head. For the gift which God gave us was no spirit of cowardice, but a spirit of strength combined with a spirit of love for others and of self-discipline. So then, as you have that spirit, do not be ashamed of the witness which we have to bear about Our Lord, do not be ashamed of me because the preaching of Him has led me to imprisonment; nay, be ready to share my sufferings in the cause of the Gospel: you have not to rely on your own strength, but on the strength of God Himself-of the very God who saved us and called us into His kingdom by a holy call to holiness, and that not in virtue of our own efforts, but in virtue of a purpose entirely His own, of a gift freely given-given indeed to us as embodied in Christ Jesus before time began, though only shown in these latter days by the bright light which radiated from the appearance of our Saviour Christ Jesus on earth, when He destroyed the power of the dread tyrant death and brought to clear view the full meaning of life, aye of immortal life, through the good tidings which I was appointed to proclaim, to carry with authority throughout the world and to teach its truths. It is because I have done this that I am a prisoner now, that I endure these fetters; but I am not ashamed of them, for I know Him whom I have trusted, and I feel confident that He has strength to guard safely all that I have entrusted to His keeping till that great day to which we Christians look forward. Take then as your pattern of sound doctrine the pattern of the doctrine which I taught you, hold it firmly in a spirit of faith and of that true love which is only found in union with Christ Jesus. It is a trust put into our hands for safe keeping; it is the most precious of all trusts; guard it then with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts.

6. ] Cf. 12, Tit 1:13 note. (resuscites, Vulg.; recrees, Ambros.), properly to stir up smouldering embers into a living flame, to keep at white heat (Parry) (O joy that in our embers Is something that doth live); there may be a conscious reference to the thought of the Spirit as fire, cf. Act 2:3, Mat 25:8, 1Th 5:19; cf. Seneca, Ep. 94, Honestarum rerum semina animi nostri gerunt qu admonitione excitantur: non aliter quam scintilla flatu levi adjuta ignem suum explicat (Wetstein); but the use in the LXX (2 K 8:1, 5 to bring to life a dead child, Gen 45:27, Gen 45:1 Mac 13:7 to revive (intrans.)), makes it very doubtful whether the metaphor was consciously present in Hellenistic Greek; cf. Ign. ad Eph. c. 1, . Chrys. paraphrases happily , .

] cf. I 4:14. ] cf. I 4:14 note. The time referred to is probably the same as there, the ordination for his present work at Ephesus: the context there suggesting a reference to the presbyters, the personal appeal here suggesting a reference to his own act alone. But the allusion here to Timothys home training (5), and the character of the gift conferred (7), leave it possible that the reference is to Pauls first choice of Timothy to be his minister (Act 16:2; so Hort, Christian Ecclesia, p. 184), or even to his confirmation at the time of his conversion, Act 14:7 (so Bp. Chase, Confirmation in the Apostolic Age, pp. 35-40). On the other hand, the whole context of the epistle implies an appeal to one in an ordained and authoritative position.

7. ] to you and me, to us his ministers; the statement is true of all Christians, cf. I. 2:15, but in a special degree of ministers, and the context ( taking up , and cf. 13, 14) points to that limitation here; cf. Rom 8:15 .

] cf. 1Co 16:10 , and compare Mar 4:40 ; ; Joh 14:27.

(virtutis, Vulg.), cf. 8, 12, 2:1 and Rom 1:16 . In writing from Rome as well as to Rome he dwells upon power as the essential characteristic of the Gospel, a power which is to prove stronger than the Empire of power; cf. also 1Co 4:19, 1Co 4:20.

] which drives out fear, 1Jn 4:18, and gives the impulse to go to the aid of others in their hour of need.

(here only in N.T.), the power to make ; whether to discipline others (cf. Tit 2:4-6), or to discipline oneself, to keep oneself in hand, free from all excitement or hesitation; it is the sanity of saintliness, cf. Bp. Paget, Studies in the Christian Character, pp. 64-67. The context probably limits the reference here to self-discipline (sobrietatis, Vulg.; sanmentis, Tert. Scorp. 13); cf. 2:22. and control the exercise of . The Christian minister must be strong, efficient, courageous, but never forget personal tenderness for others (cf. 1Co 4:20, 1Co 4:21 . . . ) or control of his own temper.

8. ] The witness to a crucified Messiah, to Jews a stumblingblock, to Gentiles foolishness, 1Co 1:23.

] perhaps with conscious contrast to the Emperor, hunc opponit Csari quem sui sic appellabant (Bengel); cf. Tit 2:13 note.

] cf. Eph 3:1, Php 1:12 sqq. which show the strain which St. Pauls imprisonment laid upon his converts.

] here only in N.T. and not found in earlier writers: probably coined by St. Paul, who frequently coins compounds of out of his deep sense of the close withness of Christians with each other and with Christ. The main thought here is suffer with me on behalf of the Gospel; cf. 2:3, 9, 3:10 (collabora in Evangelio, Ambros.), rather than suffer with the Gospel (collabora Evangelio, Vulg.), which may also be included; cf. 1Co 13:6 . . . .

9. Every word emphasizes the power which has been given to Christians 7: a power which has done what man could not do of himself, which has acted out of love for man, which has destroyed his chief enemy and given him life, which therefore calls for some return and gives strength to face suffering and death; cf. Tit 1:3, Tit 3:5, Rom 8:28-30, Rom 8:9:11, Rom 8:16:25, Rom 8:26, Eph 2:7-9 (some of which may have been in the writers mind), and Ep. Barn. c. 5, 6, which may be based on this passage, . . . , .

] mainly with a calling to be holy, cf. , Rom 1:7, 1Co 1:2, 1Th 4:7 : but with the further thought of Gods holiness which we have to imitate, cf. 1 P 1:15, 16: qu tota ex Deo est et nos totos Deo vindicat (Bengel).

] Rom 8:28, Rom 9:11, ubi v. S.-H.

] The grace of God is embodied in Christ Jesus: we only gain it through union with Him, and it was given to Him by God long before we were born. The reference may be either to the gift to mankind contained in the promise of the victory of the seed of the woman, Gen 3:15: this would be supported by the allusion to Gen in I 2:14 and by the use of . in Tit 1:2; or to the gift to mankind contained in the pre-existent Christ before the world was created, as even then He was the recipient of the Divine life of Sonship of which man was to partake: it was given to us in our ideal. Cf. Eph 1:4 . The other reminiscences of the Ephesian letter in the verse makes this the more probable view. Pelagius draws a human analogy, Nam homines solent filiis parare prdia priusquam nascantur.

] cf. Tit 1:2 note; ante tempora scularia, Vulg. Ambros.; terna, Aug. Thd.

10. (illuminationem, Vulg.) here only of the Incarnation; but cf. Tit 2:11 note, 3:4 . Here the two thoughts of the divine intervention of a saviour in the hour of need and of the dawning of a new light, cf. . . . (illustria verba, Bengel) and Luk 1:79 , are combined.

] Explanatory of 9, which has just been taken up by .

] That tyrant death (cf. , Rom 5:14) whose presence caused constant fear and took the sense of freedom out of life (cf. Heb 2:14 ), that death which the writer has learnt and Timothy must learn to face.

] illuminavit, Vulg. This was done (a) by His teaching of the nature of eternal life, consisting in a knowledge of God and beginning here on earth; it is interesting to compare the language of Epictetus (1. iv. 31) about Chrysippus: , , ; (b) but above all by the fact of the Resurrection, cf. 2:8, 1Co 15:51-56, Act 2:27. There was hope of immortality in the world before, but the Resurrection had converted it into a certainty and shown from beyond the grave the continuity of life there with life here; cf. Driver, Sermons on the O.T., Sermon 4; Mozley, Essays, ii. pp. 170-75. The Gospel first gave to a future world clearness and distinctness, shape and outline; the Gospel first made it a positive district and region on which the spiritual eye reposes, and which stretches out on the other side the grave with the same solidity and extension with which the present world does on this side of it. A future life was not an image before the Gospel: the Gospel made it an image. It brought it out of its implicit form, and from its lower residence within the bosom of the great fundamental doctrine of true religion, into a separate and conspicuous position as a truth. This was a bringing to light, and a species of birth, compared with which the previous state of the doctrine was a hidden and an embryo state.

] a climax, life, aye, unchangeable life; contrast , I 6:9.

11. Cf. 1Ti 2:7.

12. .] cf. 8 and Rom 1:16.

] not whom I have believed, as in Tit 3:8 , but rather whom I have trusted, to whom I have entrusted my deposit; cf. 2 Mac 3:22 . It anticipates the accusative .

] that which I have deposited with Him. (v. Additional Note, p. 90): all my precious things which I have put under His care. He does not define or limit; it will include his teaching (1Co 3:12-15), his apostolic work, his converts (Act 20:32 ), his life which has been already in Gods keeping and which will remain safe there even through death (cf. Luk 23:46, Luk 23:1 P 4:19). The last is perhaps the primary thought, suggested by 10.

] 1:18, 4:8; cf. 2Th 1:10; here only in St. Paul, who generally adds some explanatory genitive, , , . The day is now so present to his mind that it needs no defining.

13. (formam habe, Vulg.; formationem, Thd.; exemplum, Jerome) here and I 1:16 (where see note) only in N.T.; cf. , Rom 6:17. . , 1Ti 1:10 note.

.] hold fast as form of teaching; cf. I 3:9 ; inf. 2:2. Parry would translate hold forth in your life: let your own character represent to the world wholesome teaching. This is very parallel to I 4:12 . . . , : but it strains the meaning of and scarcely arises out of the context.

] is probably a loose attraction for or possibly (cf. 2:2), hold as outline of sound teachings those teachings which you heard from me. Hort regards as a primitive corruption of after , hold as pattern of sound doctrines that doctrine which you heard from me. W.-H. ii. p. 135.

14. . ] cf. . , 1Ti 4:6. The thought of his own deposit with God 12 suggests that deposit which Christ has left with him, a far more precious and ideal thing; cf. Philo, Quod det potiori, 19, .

. ] cf. Rom 8:11. This is true of all Christians, but the thought here is, probably, still that of the special gift to ministers for their work 6, 7.

] perhaps consciously recalling 5.

15-18. Examples of warning and encouragement.

Paraphrase. I appeal to yourself: you know instances both of cowardice and of courage: you know that all those in Asia turned away from me, of whom Phygelus and Hermogenes are the chief. On the other hand, may the Lord be merciful to the family of Onesiphorus, for many a time did he refresh me, every visit of his like a breath of fresh air; and he was not ashamed of my fetters, nay, when in Rome on a visit he took great pains to enquire where I was imprisoned and he found me: the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in the last great day. Yes, and all the many services which he rendered in Ephesus you have yourself the best means of knowing.

For similar warning, cf. I 1:19, 20, at the same point in the letter; but here the stress is on the encouragement of Onesiphorus which is described at much fuller length, and accompanied with prayer for him.

] The occasion is unknown. It might refer to doctrinal apostasy (cf. 13, 14), but more probably to some failure to help Paul himself (, cf. Mat 5:42): as it is introduced mainly as a foil to the personal kindness of Onesiphorus, cf. 4:10 . Possibly all the Asiatic Christians who were in Rome at the time, cf. 4:16, failed to support him at his trial and had now returned to Asia (cf. and ): or all the Christians in Asia at the time when he was arrested there failed to help him or come with him to Rome.

] cf. 2:18, I 1:20. , not mentioned elsewhere. is mentioned in the Acts of Paul and Thecla (c. 1) with Demas, both being described as , Onesiphorus (c. 2), as welcoming Paul to his house at Iconium.

16. ] refrigeravit, Vulg.; cf. , Act 3:19; , Luk 16:24. This would include personal intercourse, cf. 1Co 16:17, 1Co 16:18, and gifts to relieve the hardships of his imprisonment, cf. Php 4:14-17; but, though it includes his visit at Rome, it need not be confined to that time. Cf. Ign. Eph. c. 2, . . . , .

] Eph 6:20, Act 28:20. , recalling 8, 12.

17. ] after arriving in Rome, cf. Act 13:5. seems to imply a change from the freedom of the first imprisonment, Act 28:30.

18. ] A late form of the optative, cf. 2Th 3:16; W.-H. ii. p. 168. , the Lord Christ; cf. 2, 8, 16. , possibly also from Christ as the Jdg 4:8; or from the Father, a stereotyped phrase for mercy at the day of judgment. , cf. 12. , Chrys. Yes, but the Lord will say to Onesiphorus, .

The context implies that Onesiphorus was separated from his family, probably that he was dead; cf. . . . (16 and 4:19), 18, and so would provide a sanction for prayer for the departed. This, in this simple form, is a natural instinct; it was practised by some later Jews, cf. 2 Mac 12:43-45, and is found in early Christian epitaphs and in the liturgies; cf. Plummer, ad loc.; Gayford, The Future State, c. 4. Wohlenberg quotes the Acts of Paul and Thecla, 28, which is a prayer that a heathen may be transferred after death to the abode of the righteous.

] It may be fanciful to imagine a conscious play on the words invenit me in tanta frequentia: inveniat misericordiam in illa panegyri (Bengel); but Paul was fond of such playful allusions and we can imagine him thinking of the meaning of Onesiphorus, the help-bringer; cf. Phm 1:11.

] cf. 4:12. It is not defined here, and may include services rendered to Paul himself and to the whole church at Ephesus.

] Perhaps better than I, but the comparative sense cannot be pressed; cf. Moulton, Gr. N. T., pp. 78 and 236; M.M. s.v.; Act 10:28 (D) , 1 T 3:14 (?), Joh 13:27.

Additional Note to Chapter I.

.

(in Classical Greek more commonly ) always implies the situation of one who has to take a long journey and who deposits his money and other valuables with a friend, trusting him to restore it on his return; cf. Tob 1:14 . The is always that of the depositor: the duty of the friend is and . From the earliest days this duty was protected by law; cf. Hammurabi, 122-126. If a man shall give silver, gold, or anything whatsoever, all whatever he shall give he shall show to witnesses and fix bonds and give on deposit; and exact regulations were laid down fixing the penalty in the case of loss or damage; cf. Exo 22:7-13, Lev 6:2-7. The striking story of Glaucus, who was condemned by the Pythian oracle for even wishing to retain such a deposit, shows the importance attached to faithfulness in this duty (Herod. vi. 86; Juv. xiii. 199-208), and it was one of the first duties impressed on Christians, who bound themselves on each Sunday ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abnegarent, Pliny, Ep. 96. Among the Jews in Maccabean times the place of the friend was taken by the Temple treasuries, which took charge of such deposits and of the money of those who had no natural guardians; cf. 2 Mac 3:10-40 10 12 22.

In the N.T. the substantive is only used in the Pastoral Epistles: it comes naturally from one who is preparing for his last long journey, but the verb occurs elsewhere, and the word was used metaphorically in many applications. (a) Of the body of truth which Christ deposits with the Apostle and the Apostle with Timothy, cf. 1 T 1:18 , 6:20 , 2 T 1:14, and which Timothy has to hand on to others when he takes his journey to Rome, 2 T 2:2 . This use may have been suggested by the parable of the Pounds, Luk 19:12. (b) Of our true self which the Creator has handed over to us to keep safe, cf. Epict. ii. 8, 21, . . . : so Philo, Quis hres, p. 491, , , , . . . , (Wetstein), and Hermas, Mand. 3, . . . , . : ibid. Sim. ix. 32, Reddite ei spiritum integrum sicut accepistis. (c) Of good works deposited with God in heaven: a very common Jewish thought, 4 Esdr 8:33 justi quibus sunt opera multa reposita apud te; Apoc. Bar 1413 justi sine timore ab hoc domicilio proficiscuntur quia habent apud to vim operum custoditam in thesauris (Wohlenberg); cf. 1 T 6:19; Ign. ad Polyc. 6, , and cf. Abrahams, Studies in Pharisaism and the Gospels, p. 148. (d) Of persons entrusted to the care of others, Clem. Alex. Quis dives salv., c. 42, : Act 20:32 (this is said of the elders at Ephesus); Chrys. p. 597 C, . (e) Of our life deposited with God at death, Luk 23:46 : 1 P 4:19 . The life which at first was Gods deposit with us becomes our deposit with God.

R.V. Revised Version of the English Bible.

W.-H The New Testament in Greek, with Introduction and Appendix, by Westcott and Hort, Cambridge, 1881.

Clem. Hom. Clementis Romani Homili, ed. Dressel, 1853.

S.-H. The Epistle to the Romans, by Sanday and Headlam, in the I.C.C.

M.M. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, by J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan, 1914-

Lock, W. (1924). A critical and exegetical commentary on the Pastoral epistles (I & II Timothy and Titus) (82). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

Stir Up the Gift Which Is in Thee

2Ti 1:1-11

Lonely and facing death the Apostle fell back on the bedrock of the will of God. If it were the divine plan that he should finish his life-work in that miserable plight, he was content that it should be so. But he longs to see his beloved son in the faith once more. He desires to stir up the dead coal of his ardor, in which there was fire and heat, but not enough flame.

Apparently the young evangelist was becoming daunted by the gathering difficulties of the time and so Paul sets himself to encourage him. With this purpose in view he adduces his own example, 2Ti 1:3, his fervent affection, 2Ti 1:4, the memory of the sainted dead, 2Ti 1:5, the solemn vows by which Timothy had bound himself at his ordination, 2Ti 1:6, the divine donation of grace and power and love, 2Ti 1:8, the eternal purpose which had received its fruition in the advent of Jesus, 2Ti 1:9, the clear light which His resurrection had thrown on death and the hereafter, 2Ti 1:10. Surely such a chain of arguments must have proved irresistible! Gods soldiers must be brave and unflinching in meeting the opposition of the world. When once we realize that the stores which reside in God are at the disposal of our faith, we, too, shall be invulnerable and irresistible.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 1 A Godly Heritage

2Ti 1:1-7

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (vv. 1-7)

This Second Epistle to Timothy was written from a dungeon death cell. It is the last of Pauls letters, as 1 Thessalonians is the first, which God has preserved for the edification of the church. Paul, of course, may have written, and probably did write, a great many more letters than the fourteen (including Hebrews) that we have in the Word of God. But these are the only ones which the Spirit of God both inspired Paul to write, and also which He included in the canon of Scripture.

The circumstances in connection with the writing of this last letter are very interesting. We do not get much information from the Scriptures themselves, except what we glean from that which Paul tells us in these Epistles and in that to Titus. Much has come down to us, however, from some of the earliest Christian writers which enables us to piece things together, and so to know something of the actual conditions under which the letter was penned.

We learn from the book of Acts that Paul was sent to prison in Rome, charged with endeavoring to incite an insurrection against the Roman government. For two full years he remained a prisoner under guard in his own hired house until he appeared before Caesar, and then he was set free because the charges which the Jews had brought against him were not sustained. He was permitted to take up again his work of ministering the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. So far as we can learn from these early records, he then went on to Spain and preached there for a time. There is a legend-I think it is only a legend-to the effect that he crossed over to the British Isles and that he was the first to preach the gospel in Britain, but there is no proof of this which careful historians accept. From Spain he retraced his steps and went back to the region of Illyricum, along the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea. He visited a number of churches where he had preached before, and went to Crete and other places not visited previously.

He was arrested again at a time when there was a great persecution against Christians. During the first imprisonment Christianity was looked upon as a sect of Judaism, which was a legalized religion. But shortly afterward the city of Rome was burned down, and by many this was attributed to Neros own order. Finding that he was greatly blamed for such iniquity he attempted to turn the onus from himself by putting it upon the Christians. He issued an indictment demanding that all Christians should be sought out everywhere in the empire as enemies of Rome and put to death. It was during this persecution that Paul was arrested again, and taken back to Rome and confined in the Mamertine dungeon.

If you visit the city of Rome today you can see that dungeon. You can go down into it, and as you look around at those bare walls and gaze up at the ceiling, where there is just a little hole in the center from which food was dropped down to Paul and water passed through in some kind of vessel, you get an idea of the suffering that he must have endured. There is no window whatsoever through which to look to the outside world. A river passes underneath, and there is a cleft in the floor where you can look down and see the water running. It must have been cold and damp in there at all times of the year, particularly in the winter. As I stood there I had some little realization of what it must have meant for Gods servants in early days to devote themselves to the ministry of the Word of God. Surely in comparison the lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places.

Just how long Paul remained in that dungeon we do not know. Nero died in the sixty-eighth year of our era. So sometime before that, possibly about a.d. 66 or 67, Paul was led out from his prison one day to the place of execution on the Ostian Road. There he laid down his gray head upon a great stone, and in a moment the executioners axe had decapitated him. Paul was absent from the body and present with the Lord.

Some time during those months he wrote this letter-the last letter of his that has come down to us. There is always something tender about the last message from one whom we have learned to love. How we thank God for the apostle Pauls ministry. How delighted we would have been if we might have known him and heard his message delivered from his own lips. Here is his last word to his son in the faith.

As we read this epistle we shall find again and again that it is a triumphant message, though it came from a dungeon death cell. The great outstanding theme of the letter is the importance of faithfulness to Christ in a day of declension. First Epistles are, almost invariably, given to teaching; the Second Epistles are given more to prophecy. Now prophecy is not simply foretelling, but it is forth telling-stirring up the hearts and minds of Gods people by proclaiming the ministry suited to the times. As we read this letter we hear not simply the voice of the teacher, as in the First Epistle, but we hear the voice of the prophet calling us to increased devotedness to Christ as the days become darker.

We have the salutation in the first two verses: Paul, an apostle [that is, a sent one, an official messenger] of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. In the letter to Titus, Paul uses a similar expression, but adds these words, which was given before the ages began. What promise of life in Christ Jesus was given before the ages began? The probationary ages which began after the fall of man. The promise of life was given in connection with the curse put upon Satan when God said to him, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Gen 3:15).

After their sin was committed, Adam and Eve had no reason at all to expect to live. They had every reason to expect that they would be destroyed immediately, but instead of that, in infinite grace, God gave the promise of life in Christ Jesus. He said that the Seed of the woman who should yet be brought into the world shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Adam immediately accepted this as a promise of life, and we read that he changed his wifes name. He called her Eve.

You will notice she is never called Eve until after the Fall. We read that in the beginning God created man in his own image, male and female created he them(Gen 1:27), and He called their name Adam. When the man first beheld the wife God had given him, he called her Ishah (lady) because she was taken out of Ish (man). But after God gave the promise of life in Christ, Adam called her Eve, for Eve means the mother of all living. So Christ came and through Him God offers life to the world. Paul had gone through many lands proclaiming this message of life for all who believe the gospel.

To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. We have noticed in looking at the previous epistle that when the Apostle addresses a church he simply says, grace and peace, when he addresses individuals it is grace, mercy, and peace. It is so in 1 Timothy and in that to Titus. In the case of the letter to Philemon he does not insert the word mercy, because he is addressing not only Philemon but also the church in thy house. The church, as such, does not need mercy, but individuals do because individuals fail and, therefore, are in need of constant mercy.

The introduction to the letter is found in verses 3-7 The great thing which this introduction emphasizes, it seems to me, is the blessing of a godly heritage. Now grace is not inherited. Every individual has to be born again, no matter how pious and devoted his parents may have been. But on the other hand, it is a great thing to have a godly heritage, to have parents who have known and loved the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have in my desk an old, old photograph. It is a photograph of my greatgrandfather, just a farmer in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The photograph is almost faded out with age, though I have tried to keep it covered from the light because I wanted to have it as long as I might live for this reason: I have been told many, many times by those who knew my great-grandfather (people who have long since gone home to heaven but used to know me, and whom I knew as a child) they told me how that great-grandfather of mine, at the close of every day, used to gather all his family-and it was a large family-and all his farmhands-and he had a large farm-about him and have family worship. He always prayed for the salvation and the blessing of his children and his childrens children unto the third and fourth generations-and I come in there. As I look at the grizzled face of that old Scottish farmer I thank God for a godly heritage, and I thank Him for the way in which He has answered prayer.

Oh, young men and young women, never undervalue the piety of your dear father and mother. If they know Christ, thank God for it. Thank Him that you have Christian parents. Do not imagine you belong to a generation better instructed than they. You may know a little more about the sciences of today, but I fear few of us know nearly as much as many of our Christian parents knew of the things of God and eternity.

Now Paul himself was indebted to a godly heritage. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience. His mind went back over the centuries, and he realized that he came from a line of godly people who loved the Lord and loved the truth of God. Even though, as Saul of Tarsus, he misunderstood and was zealous in his effort to destroy all who were followers of Jesus of Nazareth, doubtless his conversion was in answer to prayers which were made long before the time came when he was brought to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

That without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day. Paul valued Timothy because of his love for Christ, and he adds, Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy. Evidently Timothy was very tenderhearted and affectionate and wept over sinners and over his own sins. Paul delighted to think of this because Timothy was his own convert and later his companion in the ministry.

He reminds Timothy of his early training. He says, When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee. We know from another passage of Scripture that Timothys father was a Greek, and perhaps he was not a believer at all (Act 16:1), but Timothys mother and grandmother were Jewesses. They were pious women who loved the Word of God and taught it to Timothy. We are told in this same letter that, From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus (3:15). Now when the Apostle says that, he does not mean that Timothy knew the New Testament, for it had not been written at that time. When he was growing up in that home yonder in Lystra or Derbe, there was no New Testament, but his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois taught him the things of God out of the Old Testament. No doubt many times as a lad he sat at their feet as they read those marvelous Messianic Psalms and prophecies of the coming Redeemer. One can imagine him asking what this meant and what that meant as the Scriptures were explained to him. So when the day arrived that Paul came to that region preaching the gospel, Timothy listened to the message, and the Spirit of God created faith in his heart, for Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17). So Timothy was saved by faith in Christ Jesus.

I repeat what I said in the beginning, grace is not inherited. It is not necessarily true that because your parents are Christians you will be saved. But unless a spirit of rebellion is developed against the things of God, the children will follow on in the steps of godly parents and be led on in the ways of God. As Christian parents we have a right to expect that our children will be saved if we bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But we need to be careful that we walk before them so that they may see in us just what a Christian ought to be.

Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. The faith dwelt first in the grandmother, then was manifested in the mother, and finally in young Timothy who, when he heard the gospel, was ready to believe and confess Christ as his Savior.

Timothy was still out preaching the Word. Paul says, Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. When Timothy was leaving Lystra to go out into the work of the Lord, the elder brethren met together-the Presbyters as they are called-and placed their hands in loving fellowship upon his head. Paul was with them. And they prayed that God would give Timothy some special blessing, and in answer to prayer there was a definite gift bestowed upon him. Notice again the words here: Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. In response to Pauls prayer of consecration as this young man went forth to preach the gospel, God gave him a special gift in order that he might be more useful in Christian service.

Then Paul urges him not to become lax, not to become careless, but to stir up the gift of God thus given. He says, as it were, Do not forget your responsibility, and do not let anybody terrify you. Do not be afraid of others, no matter how great the persecution may be and how great the hatred. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. These are the indications that one is really controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. These things will be manifest in the life. There will be power over sin. There will be power as we go out to win others to Christ. There will be power as we preach the gospel. There will be love for all men, Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom 5:5). Then he speaks of a sound mind. The Spirit of God will not lead into fanaticism. I have heard a great many people talk about being filled with the Spirit who, as far as I could see, gave every evidence of an unsound mind. They were taken up with all kinds of queer, fantastical, emotional experiences. Where the Holy Spirit controls there will be a sound mind. The Spirit of God will guard our intellect so that we will serve God in a reasonable and intelligent way. In this Christ Himself is our example.

In closing may I stress again the blessing and responsibility of a godly heritage? If I am addressing any who are still out of Christ and yet have had a true Christian home, who have had the blessing of faithful parents whose prayers went up to God daily on your behalf, and who read the Word of God in that home, remember that a tremendous responsibility rests upon you. You can be sure that God will never overlook your indifference and your carelessness as to the privileges you have enjoyed as a boy or a girl raised in such an atmosphere. I plead with you, therefore, to determine early in life that you are going to belong to the Christ of your father, that your mothers Savior will be your Savior and your God, that the Bible they loved will be treasured by you, and that your life will answer to the prayers that they have offered on your behalf.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

2Ti 1:5

The Moral Quality of Faith.

It is not often that the old reformer, preparing to quit the scene of his labours, bequeaths to his young successor such parting counsels as those of Paul to Timothy. The usual product of experience, especially of an experience gained in attempting a great moral revolution, is a certain caution and lowering of hope; and when, looking back upon the past, the spent enthusiast measures the smallness of his achievements, by the splendour of his early projects, he is tempted to regret the magnitude of his aims, and to advise for the future a zeal too temperate to live through the frosts of circumstances. Towards the end of life the precepts which flow naturally from our lips express themselves in negatives. It was otherwise with Paul. Would that every leader’s voice could burst, as he falls, into such a trumpet-sound, thrilling the young hearts that pant in the good fight, and must never despair of victory!

II. The secret of the deep affection between the aged Apostle and the young disciple is to be found in a quality common to them both-that energy of faith which from its wondrous conquests over our lower nature, is by many regarded as supernatural. Faith is the natural hypothesis of a pure and good heart, whence it looks on the face of nature and of life, and deciphers and welcomes their Divine lineaments. There is a certain temper, often usurping the name of charity, which springs, not from faith, but from the utter want of it: an easy laxity, a good-natured indulgence towards the sinfulness of men, arising from mere dim-sightedness as to its reality; a smiling complacency to which character is indifferent, provided enjoyment and good-fellowship are unimpeded. The true charity is not that which thinks lightly of evil, but that which is slow to believe in it.

III. The germ of this moral defect of faith lurks in us all, and puts forth its tendency at least in transient moods, when the vision is dim, and the heart is low. In flat and heavy hours the tones of conscience are so muffled that by not esteeming we can miss them, and can say of the Holy Spirit, “It is nought.” It is strange and sad how small and brief a darkness may quench for us an everlasting sun. It is an offence, not less against the calmness of reason, than the constancy of love, to be thus haunted by the visions of an untrustful mind, and like some poor sleep-walker, be led by ghosts of fear over marsh and moor till the home of rest be lost. Be it ours, in all things human and Divine, to keep the good hearts of faith; and as we accept the clearness of a brother’s face, and the simplicity of his word, and the freedom of his affection, so we think ourselves open to the expression of God’s life and love, in the beauty of the world, in the law of conscience, in the ample range of thought and aspiration, and in the promises already pressing for fulfilment, of saints and prophets.

J. Martineau, Hours of Thought, vol. i., p. 86.

References: 2Ti 1:6.-A. Raleigh, The Way to the City, p. 138; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1080. 2Ti 1:6, 2Ti 1:7.-G. Calthrop, Words to my Friends, p. 254. 2Ti 1:7.-Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times” vol. i., p. 310. 2Ti 1:7-12.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 211. 2Ti 1:8.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. vii., p. 343. 2Ti 1:9.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii., No. 703; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 164; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. vi., p. 333. 2Ti 1:9-10.-G. E. L. Cotton, Sermons to English Congregations in India, p. 229.

2Ti 1:10

Immortality.

I. Christ hath revealed the fact of immortality. Not that it was utterly unknown before. The Psalms contain it and other passages of the Old Testament; and partly the outgrowth of instincts deep buried in the hearts of men, and partly the results of early and ill-remembered revelations,-even those who had not the Bible, for the most part expected a life beyond the grave. But Christ and the Christian revelation have made an end of the matter. And Christ Himself laid down His life, and continued under the power of death for a time; but again He took up the life which He had so freely laid down, and now that He is risen and become the firstfruits of them that sleep we have in Him a specimen of the resurrection, and a guarantee of His people’s immortality.

II. The Gospel has shed all the light we have on the nature of the life beyond, the mode or manner of immortality. On some points it says little or nothing, but all that we do know is announced, or by fair induction inferred, from the Gospels, from the Book of Revelation, from the Epistles to Thessalonica and Corinth.

III. The Gospel has not only brought immortality to light, but has revealed the means of reaching it. Christ might have come from the Father’s house, and gone back to it, and yet might have been the only one from this world who did so; for He is the only one who has been here who has the intrinsic right and power to go thither. But to His friends He has extended His own right, and their immortality He has identified with His own. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life “; and if you know the Lord Jesus rightly; if through Him, the Way, you have come to a reconciled God; and if through Him, the Truth, God’s quickening Spirit has come into your soul, you will possess life so plenteously as not to dread the second death; you will be able to look calmly at the grave, and all intervening incidents, strong in the strength of conscious immortality.

J. Hamilton, Works, vol. vi., p. 365.

References: 2Ti 1:10.-T. Reed, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. xvi., p. 365; J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, vol. x., p. 92; S. A. Tipple, Echoes of Spoken Words, p. 177; A. K. H. B., Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson, 3rd series, p. 230; E. Bersier, Sermons, 1st series, p. 181; Good Words, vol. vi., p. 722; T. M. Herbert, Sketches of Sermons, p. 184; Homilist, 3rd series, vol. vii., p. 266; J. B. Paton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 52; W. Brock, Ibid, vol. viii., p. 328; J. B. Brown, Ibid., vol. xii., p. 305; E. Johnson, Ibid., vol. xiv., p. 200; Bishop Westcott, Ibid., vol. xxxv., p. 310; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. vi., p. 220.

2Ti 1:12

I. There is about these words a sort of charm which eludes theological or critical analysis. They assert no historical fact. They can scarcely be said to affirm any moral principle; they establish not one single controversial doctrine. And yet, perhaps, there are hardly any words in the Bible more encouraging, more stimulating, more assuring, better worth remembering, for the spirit which they breathe, and the holy example of courage and of confidence which they set vividly before our eyes and heart. They present to us the visible image of a man exemplifying all that he had ever taught. He was crucifying himself to everything that was adverse to his duty. He was counting all things but dross compared with the great restoration which he was expecting in eternity, the recovery of all that in time he had deposited with Christ. His entire spiritual fortune was invested in that one venture.

II. St. Paul differed from most of mankind, no doubt, not less in the personal circumstances than in the moral altitude of his position. But as respects the relation between himself and his duty, and the principles on which his duty to God and man must be discharged, St, Paul differed no more from ourselves than we differ from one another. It is impossible that we should resolutely, honestly look our duty in the face, and do it, without encountering in one or more of all the regions of suffering, those, namely, of mind, body, or estate, some cross, according to God’s providence, of lighter or more oppressive magnitude. But it is in the path of duty and not in the path of artificial martyrdom, that these sufferings must be encountered. We must have engrafted our life on that of Christ. We must be endeavouring to live in His Spirit and according to His will. Then we may confidently cast our care upon Him, assured that He careth for us.

W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 36.

The Assurance of Faith.

I. The Faith. (1) It consists of trust in Christ, reliance on Him for salvation according to the revelation of the Gospel. (2) According to the Apostle, the personal surrender and the commitment of himself and of all his interests into the hand of Christ is the prominent distinction of faith.

II. The Assurance. (1) Like the faith with which it is connected, it is enlightened and intelligent, acquired and realised in the knowledge of Christ, in the personal acquaintance with Christ. (2) Another element in the assurance of the text is a full persuasion of Christ’s ability to guard and keep with all fidelity to the very last the deposit which has been entrusted to Him. By way of practical application, note (1) that both the faith and the assurance are personal. (2) They are alike of present exercise. (3) Both the one and the other are nothing without Christ Himself.

E. Thomson, Memorials of a Ministry, p. 283.

Christian Certainty.

It is refreshing in these days of hesitancy and doubt to hear such a note of certainty as rings in this avowal. It is a characteristic note of the New Testament writers. Their intellectual strength, their freedom from fanaticism cannot be questioned, and yet they are never doubtful about Christianity; their conviction is always distinct, strong, and imperturbable. Can we, from this avowal of the Apostle, gather any indications of the true grounds of Christian confidence?

I. Paul was now an old man-Paul the aged, as he designates himself-although probably he was not more than sixty-three when he was put to death. Few men had tested Christianity as he had done. (1) First, by the repeated investigations of a peculiarly keen intellect-in Damascus, in Arabia, and in Athens, and through thirty years of profound exposition and keen controversy. (2) Next by the sacrifice for it of possessions and prospects, the most attractive to an ardent, aspiring nature like his. (3) By endurances for it such as few undergo-stripes, imprisonment, deaths oft. And now he stands face to face with the last great test of fidelity to conviction; he is about to die for his beliefs. And throughout his letter there is not one dubious estimate, one faltering avowal. Not only is his Christian assurance confident, it exults, it vaunts itself. There is no mistaking the tone of this his final verdict upon Christianity. The very phraseology indicates the strength and the enthusiasm of his faith.

II. The Apostle does not rest his certainty upon an ethical basis and feeling of personal goodness. In Paul’s theory of salvation by Christ, personal holiness never takes the place of a meritorious cause. It is simply the fruit and expression of Christ’s great gift of life. Nor does Paul derive his certainty from any imaginative hopes of the eschatologist. Such confidence as he avows is clearly the product of intelligent testimony, of clear conviction, of long and diversified experience of Christian life. There can be no strong exulting certainty in mere peradventure. If immortal hope is to be assured to a man, his present life in Christ must be certain. “I know whom I have believed.”

III. It comes then to this. The evidence upon which the Apostle relies is solely that of his personal experience of Christ. The certainty of an old saintly man like Paul-the certainty which is produced by a long Christian experience, that rests upon what Christ has been, in the manifold necessities of a strenuous life, in its arduous duties, fierce temptations, sore conflicts, depressions and sorrows,-becomes an absolute feeling as indubitable as life itself. For the life in Christ day by day generates the measure of your dying confidence, the strength of your trust. If your realisation of Christ be meagre, your assurance will be of corresponding feebleness. But if your assurance of Christ be large and continued through long years of life, then your faith will grow exceedingly, your confidence will take large forms, your avowals will find large expressions.

H. Allon, The Indwelling Christ, p. 143.

References: 2Ti 1:12.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 271; vol. xvi., No. 908; J. M. Neale, Sermons in a Religious House, vol. i., p. 240; F. Greeves, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 129; J. Le Hurey, Ibid., vol. xxxiv., p. 51; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 113; vol. v., p. 28; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 78. 2Ti 1:12-14.-Spurgeon, Sermons”, vol. xxxii., No. 1913.

2Ti 1:13

Note:-

I. What the Apostle knew concerning Christ. The knowledge which he had of Christ, which inspires the confidence of which the text speaks, must have been knowledge relating either to the person or to the work of the Redeemer; and it may be worth while to consider for a few moments what it was the Apostle knew concerning the person of our blessed Lord, and what it was he knew concerning the office which the Redeemer came to discharge. Concerning the person of Christ, he knew that wonderful mystery, that in the person of Christ there were united the Divine and human natures. And more particularly he knew the omnipotent power which belonged to Christ. I speak of the power which belonged to Christ as Mediator, that power which God the Father conferred on Him in His capacity as Mediator, in order that it might be exercised for the welfare of His Church. The Apostle knew of this omnipotent power of Christ, and it was the knowledge which he had of that omnipotent power which inspired him with confidence in Christ, as able to discharge the trust which the Apostle had commended to his keeping. And he also knew of the infinite wisdom of the Redeemer. “In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” All hearts are open to Him. From Him no thought can be concealed. But there is one other attribute belonging to the Saviour, which the Apostle must have known, and which contributed to strengthen his assurance in the Saviour, and that is the attribute of love and sympathy. Hence, the knowledge which the Apostle had of the power, wisdom, and love of Christ, conspired to make him feel an unhesitating assurance in the ability of Christ. Note, secondly, what the Apostle knew concerning the office of Christ. Generally he knew that God the Father had appointed Christ to the office of man’s Redeemer. The Saviour had voluntarily undertaken that office, and manifested a determination to do and to suffer all that was necessary in order to ensure the result for which the office was undertaken. As our Redeemer He had bought us with His own blood. As the Advocate of His people He identifies Himself with their cause.

II. Notice next how it was that the Apostle acquired this knowledge, which enabled him to speak, with so much sure certainty, respecting Christ; one was from the testimony of others, the other from his own experience. (1) From the testimony of others, the uniform testimony of all time, with regard to the mode of salvation, has been that Christ is the one and the only foundation for the sinner’s hope for eternity. In every dispensation, the Patriarchal, the Legal or Levitical, as well as the Gospel-the way of salvation has been but one. Prophets and righteous men of old, types and predictions, and ceremonies, all pointed to the Saviour as the one hope of the sinner, the one refuge in whom men may be invited to find shelter from God’s wrath on account of sin. (2) And yet there was a fuller and firmer ground of confidence than this. Call to mind what his course had been. Once he was the most active amongst the persecutors of Christianity. But now so rich had been his experience of the sympathy, the love, the grace, the power, the wisdom, of Jesus, that he was able to say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.”

Bishop Bickersteth, Penny Pulpit, new series, No. 95.

References: 2Ti 1:13. Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times” vol. ii., p. 197; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 79. 2Ti 1:14.-J. G. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 173. 2Ti 1:18.-E. Cooper, Practical Sermons, vol. iii., p. 214. 2Ti 2:1.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 75; J. Thain Davidson, Sure to Succeed, p. 77; T. M. Herbert, Sketches of Sermons, p. 151. 2Ti 2:1-26.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. x., p. 291. 2Ti 2:2.-A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 200.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Analysis and Annotations

I. PAULS PERSONAL WORD TO TIMOTHY

CHAPTER 1

1. Pauls affectionate words and confidence (2Ti 1:1-5)

2. Difficulties and assurance (2Ti 1:6-12)

3. Holding the form of sound words (2Ti 1:13-14)

4. Turning away and faithfulness in contrast (2Ti 1:15-18)

2Ti 1:1-5

Paul speaks in this last Epistle as an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. It is a blessed word and shows how the prisoner in Rome, facing now the martyrs death, had full assurance that all was well. He knew that he was in the hands of God. The promise of life in Christ Jesus was his portion; he possessed that life in Him who ever liveth. Again he addressed Timothy as his beloved son (1Ti 1:2) with the greeting of grace, from which all blessings flow, mercy, so constantly needed by all His own, and peace, which his people know and enjoy, who look to Him alone for grace and mercy. The apostle speaks of the past; he had served God, so had his forefathers, with a pure conscience (Act 23:1); they had been pious, God-fearing Jews.

This also had been the case with Timothy. There was unfeigned faith in him, which dwelt first in his grandmother, Lois, and in his mother, Eunice. Both Lois, the grandmother, and his own mother, who had a Greek for a husband (Act 16:1) had trained the child Timothy in the Holy Scriptures (the Old Testament) and he had known them from the earliest childhood (2Ti 3:15). Therefore when the gospel of Christ was presented to them this unfeigned faith laid hold upon it at once. It was good ground which had been prepared to receive the gospel-seed. Thus it should be in the Christian household. The promise is Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house. (Act 16:31). Unfeigned faith will be produced in the young by instructing them out of the Word of God, for faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom 10:17). Without ceasing Paul remembered Timothy in his prayers night and day. He remembered his tears, occasioned no doubt by the second imprisonment. How he desired to see his beloved son to be filled with joy!

2Ti 1:6-12

Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up (stir up in a flame or rekindle) the gift of God, which is in thee by the laying on of my hands. God had used Paul as the instrument in bestowing a gift upon Timothy. This gift needed rekindling. The danger of decline, which began even then to be manifested, is evident by this exhortation. The rekindling of a gift needs constant use of the Word of God and fellowship with the Lord, as well as a prayerful exercise of the gift itself. And the Spirit given of God to minister is not a spirit of fear, or cowardice, fearing men and conditions, but a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Therefore he was not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, which men began to reject, nor of him, who was now the prisoner of the Lord. It was Timothys blessed calling and privilege to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. He was not to shrink from the reproach and difficulties which then set in, but to endure it all, enabled by His gracious power.

The gospel may be rejected and despised, so that the enemy seemingly is victorious, but finally the Lord and His truth will have the complete victory. The believer knows this amidst all present difficulties and discouragements, for God hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the world began. (This refers to the first promise in Gen 3:15, the promise of life, salvation and final victory.) Before the world began does not mean eternity, but the time before the dispensations, the age-times, began. And all is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The full accomplishment and victory comes when He who abolished death by His death on the cross, and triumphant resurrection, comes again. Paul was the herald of this gospel to all men, to Jews and Gentiles. It was for this he suffered, and he was not ashamed. He knew all he passed through, all reproach, all afflictions, would not leave him ashamed. He knew the Lord and His power. For I know whom I believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.

The apostle does not say in what I have believed, but whom,an important difference, which pleases us (as to our confidence) in connection with the person of Christ Himself The apostle had spoken of the truth, but truth is allied to the person of Christ. He is the truth; and in Him truth has life, has power, is linked with the love which applies it, which maintains it in the heart and the heart by it. I know, says the apostle, whom I have believed, He had committed his happiness to Christ. In Him was that life in which the apostle participated; in Him, the power that sustained it, and that preserved in heaven the inheritance of glory which was his portion where this life was developed (J.N. Darby).

2Ti 1:13-14.

Next he exhorts Timothy to hold fast the form of sound words. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. This is one of the most important exhortations of this Epistle, and of special meaning for all believers who, in these days of departure from the truth, contend earnestly for the faith delivered once for all unto the saints. The expression the form of sound words is a strong argument for verbal inspiration. The truth of God is conveyed in the very words of God, and therefore the form in which the truth of God is made known is to be maintained. It is all to be held fast in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. It does not mean a certain creed constructed by man, but the whole truth of God as revealed by Him. And whatever good thing is committed unto the believer, in the form of a gift as a member of the body of Christ, must be kept by the energy and power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the believer. What we have received, the knowledge of the form of sound words and the gift imparted, must be used. in proportion as we do not care to communicate to others the sound words which we have received, we shall find their power over our own souls diminish and their sweetness for us also.

Apostasy starts with the giving up of the form of sound words. Critics and other deniers of inspiration speak of the spiritual meaning of the words of the Bible, and, that the Bible contains the Word of God, instead of is the Word of God. And that is the starting point of the ever increasing departure from the truth of God in our days, which will soon culminate in the predicted complete apostasy.

2Ti 1:15-18

All in Asia (the province) had heard the Gospel in years gone by from the lips of the apostle. And now the great man of God had to write mournfully: This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. It would be wrong to conclude from this that they had turned their backs completely upon Christianity and abandoned the profession of it. Such was not the case. Their faith had become weak and they had withdrawn from the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, because he had become a despised prisoner, and with this act they showed likewise that they were departing from the great and blessed doctrines the Apostle had preached unto them. Perhaps some of those in Asia had visited Rome and had repudiated Paul the prisoner. It was an evidence of the spiritual decline which was setting in.

But there was a notable exception. Onesiphorus had also visited Rome and had diligently sought him and found him finally. There were many thousands of prisoners in Roman dungeons, and we may well imagine how day after day Onesiphorus sought for his beloved brother, going from dungeon to dungeon till he had located Paul. What a meeting that must have been! He had ministered to Paul in Ephesus, which was well known to Timothy, and now he was not ashamed to minister unto the prisoner of the Lord. He prays therefore for his house and that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. The reward for his faithfulness to Paul will be mercy, as everything else is mercy in the believers life.

(Strange it is that the prayer of the Apostle for the house of Onesiphorus is used as an authority to pray for the dead. The assumption that Onesiphorus had died is incorrect.)

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

an: Rom 1:1, 2Co 1:1

the promise: Joh 5:24, Joh 5:39, Joh 5:40, Joh 6:40, Joh 6:54, Joh 10:28, Joh 17:3, Rom 5:21, Rom 6:23, 2Co 1:20, Eph 3:6, Tit 1:2, Heb 9:15, 2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 1:4, 1Jo 2:25, 1Jo 5:11-13

Reciprocal: Act 22:14 – hath Gal 1:1 – but Gal 3:22 – that Col 3:4 – our 2Ti 1:10 – and hath

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

IN HIS OPENING words, presenting his apostleship, Paul strikes a note which is prominent all through this epistle. He is an apostle, not only by the will of God-that gave him his authority-but also according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus-that conferred upon his apostleship an unconquerable character. Nature furnishes us with many illustrations of the extraordinary power of life. Here is a green sapling so tender that an infant could crush it in its tiny fist yet under certain conditions the life that is in it will force it through pavements or cause it to displace great stones weighing hundredweights. Here again is life of a certain order with its distinguishing characteristics. From these characteristics no one can divert it try as they will. Neither training nor cajoling nor whip will make a dog express its pleasure by purring nor a cat do so by wagging its tail. The life of the animal with its innate characteristics will conquer all your efforts.

In nature life is an immense force, but the life in Christ Jesus is unconquerable. The life of nature in all its forms, the life of Adam-which is human life-included, ultimately meets its match and is conquered by DEATH. The life in Christ is beyond the reach of death, for it was as having died and risen again that He became the Fountain-head of life to others. That life was promised before the world began (See, Tit 1:2) and brought to light in the Gospel (See, verse 2Ti 1:10 of our chapter). Its fruition will be seen in ages yet to come. Hence it is spoken of as a promise here.

We start the epistle therefore with that which will survive all the failures and defections of believers and all the other ravages of time. How good to be connected with a sheet-anchor which never moves before we face the storms indicated in the epistle. Everything that is in Christ Jesus abides to eternity.

Having saluted Timothy the Apostle in verse 2Ti 1:3 expresses his prayerful remembrance of him; in verses 2Ti 1:4-5 he calls to mind the features in him which were to be commended, and then from verse 2Ti 1:6 and onwards he exhorts and encourages him in the fear of God.

Both Paul and Timothy came of good stock. The former could speak of serving God from his forefathers with a pure conscience; that is, without defiling his conscience by doing that which he knew to be wrong. He was true up to his light, though, as he confesses elsewhere, once his light was so defective that he was found opposing Christ with conscientious zeal Timothy was the third generation to be marked by faith. Indeed his faith is called unfeigned, and faith of a very genuine order is a prime necessity when times of declension and testing set in. Moreover the Apostle can speak of his tears and these indicated that he was a man of deep feeling and of spiritual exercises.

The very remembrance of Timothys tears filled Paul with joy. How would he feel about us? Would he turn from us sad and disappointed at our feeble faith and general shallowness of conviction and feeling? Depend upon it, unfeigned faith, the maintenance of a pure conscience and the deep spiritual feelings which express themselves in tears are immense assets wherewith to face the difficulties and perils of the last days.

Timothy possessed in addition a special gift from God, which had been administered to him through Paul, and gift carries with it a responsibility to use it in a proper and adequate way. A person of quiet and retiring mind, as

Timothy seems to have been, is sorely tempted to lay up his pound in a napkin when confronted by trying circumstances. On the contrary, difficult circumstances are really a trumpet call for the stirring up of any gift that may be possessed, and this is possible for God has given to us His Holy Spirit, and thereby we have a spirit of power and love and a sound mind and not a spirit of fear.

Power here does not mean authority but rather might or force We have the force but it needs to be controlled by love, and both force and love must be governed by a sound mind or wise discretion if the energy that we have by the Holy Spirit is to be rightly employed. We are not therefore to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.

There was no danger of Timothy being ashamed of the testimony in earlier days when as recorded in Act 14:1-28; Act 15:1-41; Act 16:1-40; Act 17:1-34; Act 18:1-28; Act 19:1-41, it was triumphing in spite of bitter opposition. Now however it was in reproach, believers even were growing cold and Paul, the chiefest of its heralds, was in prison with no hope of release. There is nothing more trying than to come into a movement when it is on a rising tide of prosperity and then to see it pass its crest and a heavy ebb tide set in. This is the thing to test ones mettle.

Timothys mettle was being tested, but the Apostles call to him was that he should now partake of the afflictions of the Gospel. We are all glad to partake of the blessings of the Gospel, and many of us are glad to have a share in the work of the Gospel so that we may partake of its successes, and finally of the rewards in the coming kingdom for faithful service in it, but to partake of its afflictions is another matter. This is only possible according to the power of God. Here as in Col 1:11, power is connected not with that which is active but with that which is passive-suffering.

Power is in itself a cold impersonal thing. In this passage however the warm personal touch is given to it by verses 2Ti 1:9-10. The God, whose power it is, is known to us as the Author of both our salvation and our calling. These two things ever go together, for they give us what we may call the negative and positive sides of the matter. We are saved from that we may be called to. We are delivered from the misery and peril into which sin has plunged us in order that we might be designated to the place of favour and blessing which is to be ours according to the purpose of God.

What God does in saving and calling is always according to His purpose. It was so when He saved Israel out of Egypt, for He called them to bring them into the land that He had purposed for them. There is a great difference however between Israels salvation and calling and ours. They were saved in a national way from foes of flesh and blood in this world. We are saved from every spiritual foe and in an individual way. They were called to the Land of Promise with its attendant earthly blessings. We are called into heavenly relationships with their attendant spiritual and heavenly blessings. The kingdom, of which Israel will be the centre-piece was purposed by God from the foundation of the world (Mat 25:34), and their land was mapped out for them from the time when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance (Deu 32:8), that is, from the time of Babel. Our calling, as we are told here, is according to divine purpose which dates back before the world began.

Moreover the calling which we enjoy as Christians is according to grace as well as purpose. In this too we see a contrast, for Israel brought out of Egypt was put under law, and being thus put on their own responsibility they very soon forfeited their inheritance. Our calling rests upon what God Himself is and does on our behalf, and therefore it can never pass away. Yet once again, both our salvation and our calling were given us in Christ Jesus, and this could not be said of Israel in the Old Testament. The covenant established with them addressed them as natural men and all stood upon a natural basis, and hence did not stand for long. All that we have is ours not as natural men having our standing in Adam, but as those who are before God in Christ Jesus.

Our holy calling was thus purposed before the world began, and its full blessedness will abide when the world has passed away. As yet we have not entered into its full blessedness, still it has been made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour, and we have a foretaste of it inasmuch as death has been annulled by His death and resurrection and life and incorruptibility have been brought to light in the Gospel. Annulled and not abolished is the right translation. Death most evidently is not yet abolished, but its power is annulled for those who believe in Jesus. Also incorruptibility is the word and not immortality. The souls of the wicked are not subject to death, but we have the larger hope of being finally placed beyond corruption, where the last breath of it can never touch us.

Paul had been appointed a herald of this Gospel in the Gentile world and his diligent labours had brought him into all this suffering and reproach. Men were beginning to shrug their shoulders and say that his cause was a lost one. He himself began to see the glint of the executioners axe as the termination of the dark tunnel of his imprisonment. How did he feel about it?

Nevertheless I am not ashamed were his words. Of course not! How could he be? The very Gospel he carried was the glad tidings of life in the present and a glorious state of incorruptibility to come, consequent upon the breaking of the power of death. Who is there that really believing and understanding such tidings as these will be ashamed of them? Moreover his mission and authority proceeded from One whom he knew and believed, and this knowledge gave him the persuasion that all was safe in His hands.

Paul had committed his all to Christ inasmuch as he was a man that had hazarded or delivered up his life for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Act 15:26). He had suffered the loss of all things (Php 3:8). He had deposited his reputation and his cause in the hands of his Master, and he had the full assurance that in the day of Christ he would be fully vindicated and recompensed. With that blessed assurance in his heart how could he be ashamed?

All this has been mentioned by the Apostle in order to enforce his earlier exhortation to Timothy that he should not be ashamed of the testimony in days when reproach was increasing. In verse 2Ti 1:13 he gives him a second exhortation of great moment. If the adversary cannot intimidate us into defection from the truth he may nevertheless succeed by filching away the truth from us.

Now the truth to be of any practical use to us must be stated in words, and in this the devil may find his opportunity. Timothy had heard the truth from the lips of Paul to whom it was first revealed. It was a good thing-a good deposit-entrusted to him and it was to be kept by the indwelling Holy Spirit, but it only could be preserved intact as he held fast the form, or outline, of sound words in which Paul had conveyed it to him. There are plenty of deceivers today who under cover of zeal for the idea, the conception, the spirit of the truth advocate extreme latitude as to the words used. They ridicule verbal accuracy and especially verbal inspiration; but this in order to make it very easy for them to abstract from the minds of their dupes the divine idea and substitute for it ideas of their own. We have never heard Paul personally but we have the form of sound words in his inspired epistles.

He can say to us, as well as to Timothy Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me-only we have received it not from his living voice but through his pen, which is after all the more reliable way. If held fast in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus the truth will be operative in ourselves and effective in others.

Alas! it is very easy to turn away. All in Asia had already done so. The context would indicate that this turning away from Paul was in connection with his inspired unfolding of the truth, to which he had just referred. These Asians were evidently ashamed of Paul and of the testimony. On the other hand there was Onesiphorus who was not ashamed and for whom a bright reward is waiting in that day.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

The Ups and Downs of a Christian

2Ti 1:1-18

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

It is a mistake to imagine that those who walk with Christ will find a level pathway without any valley or any mountain top, a pathway foreign to hills and dales. Such is far from the case.

1. Difficulties by the way. When Paul addressed his Second Letter to Timothy he made it plain enough that the Christian is not only called upon to believe in the Lord but also to suffer with Him.

Paul did not shun to set forth the fact of enemies by the way. He gave Timothy his own experiences with certain ones who made difficult his travel.

The Apostle, however, did not only set before his son, Timothy, the difficulties by the way. He also explained how the Lord would deliver him from every evil work, and with glowing prophetic words he told of the glory which would await on the other side.

2. Our guide among the wreckage. We have sometimes thought that the expression above, which we have used for our second thought, is an appropriate one to cover Paul’s two Letters to Timothy. If we have ups and downs, hills and dales, turns and curves, we need carefully marked directions lest we should swerve from the main course, and become lost in the wilds of some bypath.

Our God never leaves us unpanoplied for the battle, or unprepared for the onslaught of the enemy. Of old, the Lord led His people Israel with the cloud by day, and with the fire by night. He went before them to choose out the pathway of their journey and to select the place where they should camp. He gave them laws of hygiene, ethical laws to instruct them in morals, and in no way left them exposed and unprotected against the wiles of the devil.

Thus, also, did Paul give God’s leadings to Timothy and God’s protection against the enemy. It will be the purpose of this lesson, first, to show somewhat the character and the call of God to the young man Timothy, and secondly, to set forth God’s directing hand as to how he should preach and suffer and contend for the faith in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation.

3. A call to the young men and women of today. As we close our introductory words we want to extend to every young man and young woman an earnest plea to join with Timothy in the service of the Lord. We set him before you as a model of young manhood. We give to you Paul’s instructions to Timothy, with the one thought that each of you may profit thereby.

Who is there who, today, will bend the knee before God and join with the young man Timothy in a full consecration to the Word and the work of their Master?

I. THE YOUNG MAN TIMOTHY (2Ti 1:2-5)

1. Timothy was a young man dearly beloved by Paul. To us the statement above carries two suggestions. The first is that Paul the valiant Apostle had a loving disposition toward others. He knew how to love as well as how to preach.

The second thought is that Timothy, Paul’s son in the Gospel, was worthy of being loved. Not only of being loved, but of being dearly beloved.

Some people wonder why they are not loved by other people. As a rule, they are not lovable. We do not talk of looks, but of characteristics. If we want people to love us, we must be kind, gentle, considerate, and not selfish, crabbed, and filled with faultfinding.

2. Timothy was a young man for whom Paul prayed. Again, we have two things; First, the man who prayed. Paul was more than a preacher and an instructor. Paul prayed. Paul prayed for individuals, Paul prayed by day and by night.

Secondly, we have the man for whom Paul prayed. Paul prayed for Timothy because Timothy had knit himself around Paul’s heart. Paul saw in Timothy the possibilities of a real workman, and Paul prayed for him.

3. Paul greatly desired to see Timothy. Here is an expression of the genuineness of Paul’s love, but not of that alone. Timothy, likewise, loved Paul, we catch this, when Paul tells of how Timothy wept, when Paul was taken from him. These tender touches in the Bible record, make Christianity glow with beauty. They show that the Christian life is not foreign to those marks of tender affection of sympathy, and of love, which make home and comradeship a joy forever.

4. Timothy was a young man of unfeigned faith. According to 2Ti 1:5 Timothy had a faith that was unfeigned. It was not a faith that was affected or professed. It was not a faith that was a counterfeit. It was real, it was genuine, it was unfeigned.

II. THE GIFTS OF THE YOUNG MAN TIMOTHY (2Ti 1:6)

“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.”

1. Gifts are given of God. We read in the Epistle to Corinthians of the gifts of the Spirit. “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit,”

There are other gifts mentioned.

Concerning the gifts of the Spirit, Paul says: “Covet earnestly the best gifts.” If a young man or a young woman desires a special gift of the Spirit, they desire well.

2. Gifts may be received by the laying on of hands. Paul wrote to Timothy definitely of the gift that was in him by the laying on of his (Paul’s) hands.

When Paul, himself, was saved, Ananias under the instruction of the Lord visited the young man Saul, and said: “The Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Let us observe, however, that, as Ananias spoke, he put his hands on Saul. In the Book of Acts we frequently find the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Somehow or other we believe that it is entirely right for us to lay our hands upon the heads of young men, and young women, and to pray for them that they also may be filled with the Spirit and receive definite spiritual gifts.

3. Gifts are for service. If we ask God to impart unto us some gift, it is that we may be used of God by this gift. He who would seek the gift of the Spirit in order that he may enhance his own honor or glory, is along with Simon, in the gall of bitterness and distress.

We do not seek the Spirit nor the gifts of the Spirit in order that we may use Him or them, but that we may be effectually used by Him and because of them.

III. A CALL TO TIMOTHY FOR AN UNEMBARRASSED TESTIMONY (2Ti 2:8; 2Ti 2:12)

1. God never gives the spirit of fear. This is the statement of 2Ti 2:7. He who walks tremblingly and timidly and dominated by fear knows nothing of the power of the Spirit. When Peter trembled before the maid, he was moving in his own strength; when Peter, at Pentecost, thundered out, “Jesus of Nazareth, * * ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,” he was walking in the Spirit.

2. God does give the Spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. There is a holy boldness resting upon those who are Spirit-filled. That boldness, however, is not rashness, because it is the Spirit of love as well as of boldness, which God gives. That Spirit also is not the spirit of fanaticism, neither of wild sayings and wild actions.

3. God makes us unashamed of our testimony for Him. We do not preach the Gospel with an apology for the Gospel we preach. We do not preach the Gospel as though we were ashamed of the Gospel. The Gospel is our glory, our joy, and our crown. The god of this world may blind the eyes of the unbelieving against it, and the sinner may deride it, but we know that it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.

4. God makes us unashamed of our brethren who suffer for Him. The Apostle said to Timothy, “Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner.” It is sad indeed when Christian people are unwilling to align themselves to God’s honored, but persecuted and despised servants.

5. God calls us to suffer the afflictions of the Gospel, but He calls us to do it according to the power of God. This assures us that when we suffer for Him and are not ashamed of Him, He will not be ashamed of us, but will prepare us to suffer, and clothe us with power as we suffer.

IV. A PLEA FOR SOUNDNESS IN DOCTRINE (2Ti 1:13)

“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.”

1. The tendency to belittle the importance of the faith. There was, even in Paul’s day, a turning from the faith on the part of many. Paul particularly mentioned this fact in his Epistles to Timothy.

(1) In the First Epistle we read, “The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” Do you marvel, therefore, that in the same Epistle and the same chapter Paul urges Timothy to be a good minister of Jesus Christ, “Nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine”?

(2) The Apostle Paul also speaks of certain ones who have cast off their first faith. These he says have turned aside unto Satan. Then he urges once more that God’s servant should not blaspheme the Name of God, nor His doctrine. He also says, “If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing.” Then he adds to Timothy, “from such withdraw thyself.”

(3) In the First Epistle Paul urges Timothy to fight the good fight of faith and to keep the commandments without spot unrebukable concluding with this statement: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and opposition of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith.”

2. To the young people, we urge that at this hour there is the same tendency which Paul saw in his day. If he urged Timothy to study, “rightly dividing the Word of Truth,” and to shun profane and vain babblings, so do we urge you. False teaching still eats as does a canker, and men who err concerning the truth, still overthrow the faith of some.

V. FIDELITY IN KEEPING THE TRYST (2Ti 1:14)

1. The young man Timothy had entered into a covenant with God. That covenant was sealed the day that the Apostle put his hands upon Timothy’s head, when God’s gift was imparted to him.

Can we remember the day when we brought ourselves to God and entered into a covenant to serve Him?

2. The Holy Ghost had placed into the young man’s keeping both His Word and work. What a solemn tryst was his; and, what a solemn tryst is ours. The Apostle Paul said on another occasion, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” If God is faithful in keeping His tryst with us, shall we not be faithful in keeping ours with Him? May God grant that that which He has committed to us, may never be maligned by any infidelity upon our part.

3. The Holy Ghost had entered into Timothy to enforce His “keeping” power. Thus it was that Paul said to Timothy that he should keep that which was committed, “by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.” If we think that alone, in our own strength and in the energy of our flesh, we will prove faithful we will be certain to fall. We must remember that God who gives us a tryst, imparts unto us the Spirit of God to enable us to keep our tryst.

VI. THE FIRST OF FOUR CALLS (2Ti 3:5, l.c.)

The first call is in our key verse. The Apostle in the Spirit, had described the last days with their perilous times. He had told how men with a form of godliness, but denying His power thereof, would be “lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, * * lovers, of pleasure more than lovers of God”: then he added: “from such turn away.”

The call of the whole Bible is a call to separation. How can two walk together except they be agreed? How can believers be yoked together with unbelievers? How can righteousness fellowship unrighteousness? What communion is there between light and darkness? What concourse is there between Christ and Belial? Hear the Words of God as they thunder out their command: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

God has written unto us, “Not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.”

Have we, therefore, any right to remain in company and fellowship in a church which houses and succors such people?

God has said: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Shall we call Him Lord, and refuse to obey His command?

VII. THREE OTHER SPECIAL CALLS (2Ti 3:10; 2Ti 3:14; 2Ti 4:5)

1. The first call. In 2Ti 3:6 Paul goes on to describe those who have a form of godliness, and deny its power. He says: “Of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts.”

He says that these, like Jannes and Jambres who withstood Moses, also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. Then follow the ringing words: “But thou.” Shall Timothy follow with these reprobates, or shall he, who had fully known Paul’s doctrine, manner of life, purpose, and faith, follow with Paul?

2. The second call. In 2Ti 3:12, Paul says: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” In 2Ti 3:13 he adds: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”

Once more Paul sounds forth the same remarkable word, “but * * thou,” and he says: “Watch thou in all things, in spite of increasing darkness, to continue in the things which he had learned, and had been assured of.

Thank God, that from a child Timothy had known the Holy Scriptures, and now he is encouraged by Paul with the statement that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

3, The third call. The Apostle goes on to show Timothy that “the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

With these words spoken, once more Paul sounds forth, “but * * thou,” and he says: “Watch thou in all things, endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

If our young people desire God’s guiding hand mid the wreckage of present-day apostasy, let them study these admonitions which Paul gave to Timothy and gives to us, and they will know His will.

AN ILLUSTRATION

Some men are afraid of being too religious. What we need today is men who believe down deep in their soul what they profess. The world is tired and sick of sham. Let your whole heart be given up to God’s service. Aim high. God wants us all to be His ambassadors. It is a position higher than that of any monarch on earth to be a herald of the Cross; but you must be filled with the Holy Ghost. A great many people are afraid to be filled with the Spirit of God-afraid of being called fanatics. Fox said that every Quaker ought to shake the country ten miles around. What does the Scripture say? “One (shall) chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.” It takes about a thousand to chase one now. It takes about a thousand Christians to make one decent one now. Why? Because they are afraid of being too religious. What does this world want today? Men-men that are out and out for God and not halfhearted in their allegiance and service.-D. L. Moody.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

2Ti 1:1. Paul began his first epistle to Timothy by saying his apostleship was by the commandment of God and Christ. This one begins by saying it is by the will of God; hence a command of God is an expression of His will. In the other he says Christ is our hope, and in this he says it is according to the promise of life in Christ. The general thought in each place is the same as in the other.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

2Ti 1:1. According to the promise of life. An unusual addition to the opening formula of St. Pauls letters, probably rising out of the sense that the promise was near its fulfilment, and that he was about to pass through life to death.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Notes.

Division 1. (2Ti 1:1-18.)

God always abiding for us.

1. The apostle, in writing this final epistle, realizes with satisfaction his being an apostle of Christ “by the will of God.” The assurance of this is no less the assurance that that for which God has appointed him shall not, and cannot, fail. However results may seem to speak, faith knows that God is Master of all; of the whole scene, and of His foes no less. Through death to life is His principle always for us; although, taking the peculiar form which it does here through the shipwreck of the professing mass, it has a voice of alarm in it beyond what might seem to be in the normal application. Paul’s apostleship is also “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,” a promise which is developed still more in the epistle to Titus, as that which was given in Him “before the age-times.” Life for us has been wrought out by Another, and is the bestowal of free grace, which therefore cannot fail. Whatever may be in conflict, here is security. The Captain of Salvation is already in glory, and the life which He has given is already within us, making itself realized in the faith which draws from Him its sustenance and blessing. The epistle has, of course, still the character of individuality strongly marked upon it, as one to Timothy the beloved child of his labor, to whom he wishes grace, mercy, peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. Grace is the foundation and security of all; mercy reminds us of the pity of God for the infirmities of those in a scene like this, constantly needy and dependent; and peace is the issue of the two former -the effect of this ministry of God to the need which only brings out, the greater it is, the more His resources. At the end of the race the apostle can look back over the race that has been run. He has served God from his forefathers with a pure conscience. He can see in his on case, as he reminds Timothy with regard to himself, how this promise of life has worked out in the preservation of a people for God often, while not in the way of nature merely, yet according to the Passover character, which we have often seen to be realized so much in Christianity, the blessed assurance of salvation, as was said to the jailer, to “thee and thy house.” Thus with Timothy also the unfeigned faith that was in him now had dwelt first in his grandmother Lois, and then in his mother Eunice. It is good to realize in this way how it is the nature of faith to propagate itself, (God being with it and in it, for this, of course,) the Creator-God as such still bearing in mind the natural ties which He has instituted, and which, spite of all failure, He makes thus to result for blessing. The apostle never allowed his assurance of God being in all this, working out purposes that could not fail, to make him relax his supplications for the very people in whom he sees God working. On the contrary, he is only energized the more to remember them with a love which recalls such things as Timothy’s tears; themselves, no doubt, the witness of the bond which united him to the apostle. The failure of those around him was only making him the more realize the heart of the young disciple, poured out perhaps over his departure, and in the consciousness of what was in every place awaiting him. It was divine life that expressed itself thus in what might seem merely human affection. As we know, in Christ the human and the divine have been inseparably united together, and there cannot be the least discordance between the two.

2. The apostle exhorts Timothy to rekindle the gift of God which was in him by the putting on of his hands. Elsewhere we have seen that this gift was given in connection with prophecies which had gone before with regard to him, and that the laying on of the hands of the elders was the recognition of it; but the apostle here declares that the one instrument of God in its communication was himself -a recognition, may we not think, of the spiritual tie which did unite the apostle to this true child, born of his labors. True gift as it was which was in him, he still needed to rekindle it -a strong word, which makes us realize the need we have even with regard to that which God Himself has given. The contact with things around tends to dull the very sense of it within ourselves, and there needs constantly recourse to God, that the gift may be maintained in the divine energy which alone suits it. Here it is evident that the decline which was already so apparent had had a certain effect, and that there was danger of giving way under the pressure of it. Timothy is reminded, therefore, that God has not given a spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. We have what necessarily characterises the work of Him who, dwelling in that which is the very scene of our frailty, -the body, -nevertheless, has, in fact, control of it and of everything around. Weakness may characterize the vessel, but not the power that is in it; while love leads out the soul beyond itself and enables it freely to spend one’s self in self-denial for the blessing of others. The spirit of self-control controls, in fact, all other things. If we are masters of ourselves, we are masters of all else; nor can we ever have to yield to the enemy through weakness, while we have One abiding in us who is Omnipotence itself. How good, indeed, to prove the weakness, which only makes us prove the all-sufficiency of God!

Timothy was not, therefore, to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord nor of Paul himself, His prisoner, but to take his own place as suffering evil along with the gospel according to the power of God. Power is displayed now after this manner, not in fleshly victories, or what might be recognized in the world as success, although we are prone to make this the test of everything; but we can little realize what success is as yet. By and by we shall find, indeed, that all that is of God has been successful. Nothing has been without its effect; but in the meanwhile we must be far from the spirit of a Gamaliel, which would judge by what the world counts success, and leave no room, in fact, for faith at all. In the world, as people say, nothing succeeds like success. They look upon success as something evident, something which no one can deny. But what, then, was the success of Paul, the poor prisoner, deserted by the very people that were one with him as Christians? and what, indeed, with some of the main truths for which he strove, to lapse and abide in darkness unknown for many generations? The call for patience taxes us, no doubt; nevertheless, if patience have her perfect work, it will be proved that thus we shall be “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” God has already done for us so great a work that we may well trust Him for everything. He “hath saved us and called us with a holy calling;” and that not as the reward of any works of our own, but “according to His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the age-times,” but which has now been made manifest by the appearing of the Saviour, who has “annulled death, and brought life and incorruption to light by the gospel.” Here is once more, as is plain, the promise of life; the apostle carrying us back to the beginning, -not to eternity itself, as is generally supposed, but to the promise given before the dispensations began. Some would hesitate to call the announcement of the Seed of the woman a promise in this way. It was, no doubt, in the form of a doom denounced upon the serpent; but that, indeed, was a promise for man, surely intended for him, and which Adam’s faith laid hold of, when, in view of it, he called his wife’s name “Eve,” or “life” -the one through whom death was coming in, he calls “the mother of all living.” Then it was that God, answering to the faith thus manifest, clothed Adam and his wife with the very fruit of death itself, making death minister, as we know in Christ it has ministered, to the life which He gives. This is no restoration of the first man, as many speak. It is a promise of the Seed of the woman. It does not reinstate the first man as such, but proclaims, indeed, deliverance for man, for the sinner; and everything here (while couched in those parabolic actings in which so constantly we find in the Old Testament the deepest truths of God to be hidden) is in accordance with this. Life for those under death is the text upon which God was preaching; and not without the ability, surely, to convey something of the blessing to the souls of those who heard it, although the fulness of it is only now come out. The appearing of our Saviour has made it manifest by the annulling of death and the bringing of life and incorruption to light by the gospel.

The expression used here, “before the age-times” has been obscured by the supposed equivalent expression, “before the world began;” and so it has been conceived to be a promise in the previous eternity, and thus something between the Father and the Son, the terms of that covenant between these of which theology, not Scripture, speaks so much. It remains for theology to produce the first text which speaks of such a covenant. “The promise of life” was, truly, “before the age-times;” the word used here being the adjective of a word even most commonly translated “age,” and which is equivalent very much to what we call a dispensation. The dispensations, in fact, had not begun when God gave this promise. Innocence was ended, God was in His grace laying hold of the fallen creature, and that for a blessing which would more than meet all the consequences of the fall; but there was no dispensation in the way in which we speak, and even the first age of man’s history, which terminated at the Deluge, had little of the character of a dispensation at all. We may, no doubt, truly call it such; but that which it did was simply to test the reliance of man upon the promise which had been given, the test of the faith of the fallen creature in the remedy which He had announced. There was not, as yet, even the institution of human government, much less was there any law. Every one was a law to himself, and thus there was, in one sense, the fullest trial of man that could be given. He was absolutely free, that he might show now what he would do with his freedom. Alas, the flood swept over that ancient world, leaving but eight persons to begin a new one.

Through all, nevertheless, God had adhered to His purpose. The promise might seem long fulfilling. No doubt it was long. There were needs for this which man himself could little estimate. To estimate them would have been to estimate the corruption that was in him, and to pronounce upon himself in a way which he has never done except as forced to do it. Spite of the delay, God in due time, as we know, vindicated His promise -a lesson for us of patience, who have seen once more the blessed truth, now fully announced, corrupted and made light of by those who have professedly heard and received it. The times before the flood will be repeated, as the Lord assures us, in the times which precede His own appearing; but the purpose of God holds throughout, and “the knowledge of the glory of God,” spite of all, shall “cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.”

Death has already been annulled, and life and incorruption are brought to light by the gospel. Life there had been, spiritual life, from the beginning. God had been always giving life. There had always been upon earth a testimony in this way to Himself, but now it is brought to light; with resurrection also, which is what is referred to in “incorruption” here as a principle of God’s ways of the most exceeding importance. Death is permitted to have its way as the penalty upon sin and the judgment of man universally, but only to give way to resurrection, in which God declares Himself as God, acting in the living energy which belongs to Himself and in the grace which ensures absolutely the result of this. The apostle’s ministry was of the fulness of blessing such as this, which was now going out far beyond Israel to the nations everywhere, not without its necessary accompaniment of suffering also, but with the joyful knowledge in it of One who is able to keep every trust committed to Him, and to show His faithfulness fully in the day that is coming. The apostle speaks for himself as to the abiding confidence that he has in One so fully proved and so fully known.

3. He bids Timothy now to hold “the form of sound words” which he had heard of him “in faith and love” which were “in Christ Jesus.” This is an important word for us, and a word too little understood by Christians in general. The words which Timothy had heard of Paul we have heard as now for us, contained in those Scriptures to which Peter assures us the epistles of Paul belong, of the character of which he is going to speak more fully in a little while; but Timothy is not merely to hold the sound words which have been heard; he is to hold the form of them; that is, he is to hold them in the very way in which they have been spoken, which Scripture has, it is clear, provided for us. Verbal inspiration is here insisted on, perhaps more emphatically than anywhere else. It is not simply the spirit of the words which we have to listen to, or the general ideas, but to take heed to the very form in which these words are conveyed to us. The form embodies the spirit; and we, as those that are in the body, should know for ourselves how much the form implies. The form is, in fact, the instrument of the spirit, and is that which manifests it -which alone, for us, as we are now constituted, can manifest it. Scripture has thus a form as well as a spirit. Every truth of God has its own form, its way of presentation which is to be maintained and heeded.

No doubt, we may express, and are often called to express, things in the way in which they appear to us. This has an importance of its own also. It speaks of what our souls have received of that which God has been teaching, and Scripture is left in our hands in such a way as to insist upon diligence on our part to lay hold of it and to apprehend it aright. We have no creed made for us, as people ever since have been busy in making it. That which they insist upon shows us, in fact, a real need that we have, and the responsibility which rests upon us. Scripture is not given in such a manner as to manifest itself for what it is, to all. “The man of God” is to be furnished by it thoroughly, but only “the man of God.” For this very reason you cannot accomplish the thing which is desired in an authoritative creed. The authority given to it is the very thing, in fact, which spoils it. There is no danger in the creed as long as it is the expression of the individual faith of those who make it, but it has no authority. It may suggest; but we can only fall back upon Scripture itself as justifying it in any way, and thus it is always open, and rightly open, to question whether Scripture does justify it. Scripture is thus the authority, and not the creed; yet, as already said, the creed has a necessity of its own, and is wholesome as long as, and just so long as, it is the expression of the faith of those who put it forth -no further. It may be a witness in this way for God, but a human witness, and which therefore can be appealed against, and the appeal made to God Himself -that is, to His Word.

But, in fact, the more we apprehend the form that the truth takes in Scripture, the more, of necessity, we shall find that a creed is being formed within us. The truths come together. We realize in them a harmony, a congruity, which there must be of necessity in the truth as a whole. We receive it, in a sense, in fragments; but we are necessarily not content with this. We seek to have things together; and this is necessary, that the proper power of them should be realized. The form embodies the spirit, and the form of every individual truth is that which makes for us the whole picture of the truth, each part enhancing the beauty and blessedness of the whole; but the more we really seek to have every part of Scripture in its relation to every other part, the more the form as a whole develops for us, the more shall we realize the perfection of the form which Scripture itself has, containing for us blessedness of which we have to possess ourselves in faith, and which, after all, is still ever beyond us -not to discourage but to encourage us on to the possession of it. The creed of a living faith is thus a creed which is continually perfecting, continually enlarging. It cannot be otherwise. Thus we cannot build upon the creed itself, we can only build upon the Scripture, and here the apostle’s exhortation, therefore, finds its full value for us. We are to hold fast the very “form of the sound words” which it speaks to us. The more earnestly we go on, the more ready shall we be to go back, and to ripen our apprehension of the way in which the Spirit of God has spoken to us. Labor is always a necessity to us, faith has always to be in living activity; while the acceptance of an authoritative human creed results, of necessity, in the hindrance to all true progress, and in the lack of exercise as to all the details of that which is supposed to be ascertained, and which, therefore, needs it no more.

We must hold, then, “the form of sound words;” but the doctrine, however accurate, is not enough: it must be “in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” The truth must be received in the willing and obedient heart, and responded to by the soul attracted by it, realizing the power of that which it conveys. In connection with this, the apostle urges Timothy to keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us the good thing committed to him. The Spirit who dwelt in Timothy dwells in us also, and by His power we have also to keep whatever good thing has been committed unto us. We need not inquire so much into the character of the gift. We may, perhaps, not be able to appreciate it even, fully. We shall surely lack intelligence as to it in proportion as we are less concerned to be in perfect subjection to that Spirit, who has all power for us; but to each one of us has been committed a gift, if we are members of the body of Christ at all, a gift distinctly our own, which we need the energy of the Holy Spirit to keep for us; and we shall find, no doubt, that this has suited connection here with the holding fast “the form of sound words” itself. We shall find that as God enables us to be true to the ministry of that which He has given, we shall be in the way to have more committed to us. In proportion as we undervalue the gift we shall, as far as lies in us, lose it. In proportion as we do not care to communicate to others the “sound words” which we have received, we shall find their power over our own souls diminish and their sweetness for us also.

4. We have now, in contrast with the holding fast, the turning away of many, the sad foreboding of the wholesale defection that was coming in. “This thou knowest, that all they who are in Asia have turned away from me.” It is striking that here we have the field of the second and third of Revelation. Asia is, as is well known, in Scripture, not the continent which we speak of under that name, but a limited district of that which we now call Asia Minor, and in which the seven churches were all found. However far this turning away in Asia had gone, yet it is plain that it is a wide defection of which the apostle speaks here; “All they who are in Asia.” Of course, it does not mean that they had turned away from the confession of Christ. Nor can it be accepted that it refers simply to the abandonment of the apostle when again imprisoned -the opposite conduct to that of Onesiphorus. The Pauline doctrines, on the other hand, were very early given up. Just the brightest and most blessed truths are always that which man has most proved himself unable to keep. They are the things which go first of all; and, as a fact, even the doctrine of justification by faith went in this manner, and was little realized for centuries. The doctrine of the Church we find nowhere, even in the earliest days, outside of Scripture. The Church is for the fathers just what the apostle speaks of as like “a great house.” It is hierarchical, dogmatic, sacramentarian, in the spirit of the old Judaism, yet not the Judaism of Scripture, but of the Pharisees. This has acquired an outwardly Christian form, or rather, let us say, a Christian dress, but nothing more. Thus, then, was the necessary testing of faith proving the weakness as to the faith itself. The apostle turns from it now to one who had been able to abide the test; breathing out a fervent prayer that the Lord might grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, as one who had oft refreshed him and not been ashamed of his chain, seeking him out very diligently when he was in Rome, when the implied difficulty of finding him might have been his excuse for lack of ministry. He prays that the Lord may grant to him also that he might find mercy of the Lord in that day. The reward of grace, after all, is mercy, and can be nothing else. Only grace can say to any one of us: “She hath done what she could.” Thus it is mercy crowns even the triumphant victor. Onesiphorus’ ministry to the apostle had begun in other circumstances. It had not ceased when the circumstances were more adverse.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

PERSONAL TO TIMOTHY

When Paul addressed his earlier letter to Timothy, the latter was in Ephesus, and there are reasons to believe he was still there.

Paul was now a prisoner in Rome for a second time, awaiting a hearing before the Emperor, and he was not being treated with the consideration shown him on the earlier occasion (Acts 28), but like a common prisoner. The immediate occasion for this letter grew out of this, for he is anxious to have Timothy and Mark as his companions (2Ti 1:4; 2Ti 4:9, etc.). He is conscious that his death by martyrdom could not long be delayed, for these were the days of wicked Nero, and not knowing whether he should see Timothy again, or not, he was desirous of adding still further to the instructions he had given him.

There is reason to believe that Timothy required these encouragements in a marked degree. His character was not of the stuff that Pauls was made of. He suggests the diffidence of Jeremiah in the Old Testament, without some of the redeeming qualities he possessed. For references to the lack of courage of Timothy, see 1:5, 7; 3:10.

SALUTATION (2Ti 1:1-2) AND THANKSGIVING (2Ti 1:3-5)

In this thanksgiving on Timothys behalf, there is a reference to his spiritual history which seems to have come down in his mothers line.

EXHORTATION (2Ti 1:6-14)

The exhortation which follows, and which has grown out of the remembrance of Timothys past life and the piety of his ancestors, contains three of four natural divisions.

1. An exhortation to firmness in the faith (2Ti 1:6-8). This can be cultivated, stirred up. It is inherent in the spiritual gift he received from God at the time he was set apart to the ministry, and is not consonant with fearfulness, the moral cowardice to which he seems to have been addicted, but is evinced rather in the exercise of suitable discipline in the spirit of love (RV), and in boldness of testimony even to the point of suffering.

2. This exhortation enforced by the character of the Gospel and the mercy of God (2Ti 1:9-11).

3. Finally, the apostle cites his own example (2Ti 1:12-14). He suffers for his testimony, and is not ashamed of it; he is willing to suffer, he counts it worth while, in the light of his faith. Let Timothy profit in word and deed by what he sees in him.

DESCRIPTION OF FALSE BRETHREN (2Ti 1:15-18)

This exhortation to Timothy gathers force from the circumstance that some who professed fealty to Christ have been guilty of defection, if one may judge by their desertion of Christs servant in his trial (2Ti 1:15). Their action, however, serves to bring out the stronger the love of another brother for whom he prays (2Ti 1:16-18).

QUESTIONS

1. Locate both Paul and Timothy at this time.

2. State the possible reason for this epistle.

3. Analyze Timothys character and temperament.

4. Divide the chapter into four parts.

5. Analyze the exhortation in the chapter.

Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary

In these verses, we have the penman of this epistle described, by his name, Paul; by his office, an apostle; by the person that sent him, Jesus Christ; by the end of his mission to preach, the promise of life; that is, the gospel in which the promise of life eternal is contained.

Note here, 1. That it is God’s call, and not barely God’s permission; his commanding will, and not barely his permitting will, which must warrant a person’s undertaking the sacred office, and prove him a true minister of Jesus Christ; Paul an apostle by the will of God.

Note, 2. That as Adam brought the sentence of death upon us all, and the promise of life is made to us in and through Jesus Christ; so that the promise of life must have ministers to proclaim it, and to preach this promise is their proper work.

Observe, 2. The person described, to whom this epistle is directed, and that by his name, Timothy; by his relation, a son; by his affection. a beloved son, a dearly beloved son.

Some think St. Paul calls him his son, because converted by him to Christianity; others, because more thoroughly instructed, edified, and encouraged by our apostle; possibly because he was assistant to him, a co-worker and fellow-labourer with him in the work of the gospel, and for that reason most affectionately beloved by him.

From whence learn, With what fervour of sincere affection the ministers of Christ should love one another, speak respectfully of each other, secure the reputation one of another, strengthen each other’s hands, and encourage one another’s hearts in the work of God. We have little love from the world;

Lord! how sad is it that we should have less one for another? Behold here how St. Paul’s and his assistant Timothy’s heart were knit one to another; like father and son, to the great reputation, as well as successful furtherance, of the gospel.

Observe, 3. The apostle’s salutation, in form of a prayer; Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Learn hence, That all spiritual blessings flow from God as the Father in Christ unto us; and that no grace, mercy, or peace can be had from God the Father, but in, by, and through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Greetings

That God’s will and his commandment are one and the same can be seen by comparing the opening words of the first and second letters to Timothy. Further, such comparison will remind that the Christian’s hope is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Paul may have considered Timothy his son because he helped him learn and obey the gospel. He loved him because of the close relationship they had in the gospel. Paul treated Timothy like a son by training him to carry out the important task of preaching the truth. His prayer for him was that he would receive God’s unmerited favor, tender mercy and unsurpassed peace of mind. All of these come from the Father and Son ( 2Ti 1:1-2 ).

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

2Ti 1:1-5. Paul, an apostle by the will of God See 1Co 1:1-5; according to the promise of life Appointed to exhibit, by preaching the gospel, and to bring men to, eternal life, promised by God to all true believers; in And through; Christ Jesus Who hath revealed and procured it. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers That is, whom both I and my ancestors served, or, whom I serve as the holy patriarchs did of old; with a pure conscience He always worshipped God according to his conscience, both before and after his conversion. Before his conversion, however, his conscience was neither truly enlightened nor awakened; for he was neither acquainted with the spirituality and extent of the moral law, nor with his own sinfulness and guilt through his violations of it. That without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers See on Rom 1:8-9. To know that the apostle prayed for him continually, must have afforded great encouragement to Timothy amidst his labours and sufferings: being mindful of thy tears Perhaps frequently shed, as well as at the apostles last parting with him; that I may be filled with joy In conversing with thee, and giving thee my dying charge and blessing. When I call to remembrance, &c. That is, my desire to see thee is greatly increased by my calling to remembrance the unfeigned faith In the gospel, and in its glorious Author; that is in thee Of which thou hast given convincing evidence; and which dwelt An expression not applicable to a transient guest, but only to a settled inhabitant; first in thy grandmother Lois Probably this was before Timothy was born. Here it is insinuated, to the great praise of Timothys grandmother Lois, that, having embraced the Christian faith herself, she persevered in it, and persuaded her daughter Eunice to do the same; and that the instructions and example of these pious women prepared their son for receiving the gospel when it was preached to him: a fit example this for the imitation of all mothers, who, if they take the same pains with their children, may hope that, by the blessing of God, their care will be followed with similar happy effects.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2 Timothy Chapter 1

The Second Epistle to Timothy has a very peculiar character. It is the expression of his heart, who out side Palestine had, under God, founded and built the assembly of God on earth, and it was written in sight of its failure, and its departure from the principles on which he had established it. God remained faithful; His foundation was sure and immovable; but the work committed into the hands of men was already enfeebled and decaying. The consciousness of this state of things, which moreover betrayed itself in the way in which the apostle himself was then forsaken oppressed his heart; and he pours it out into the bosom of his faithful Timothy. By this means the Spirit instructs us in the solemn truth, that the church has not kept its first estate, and sets before us the ways of safety for those who seek God, and desire to please Him, in such a state of things as this.

The apostle John gives the history of the fall of the assembly here below, and of its judgment, and that of the world likewise. He also sets before us a life which, apart from all questions of the assemblys condition, abides ever the same, which renders us capable of enjoying God, and makes us resemble Him in His nature and character.

As a witness John was to remain until the Lord came: but Paul sees for himself the ruin of that which he had built and watched over so faithfully. He had spent himself for the assembly, accomplishing that which was behind of the sufferings of Christ; and he had to see that which he had so much loved (which he had cared for even as a mother cherishes her nursling which he had planted as Gods plant on the earth) grow feeble as to its condition and testimony in the world, depart from the source of strength, and become corrupt. What a painful experience! But it is that of the servant of God in all ages and in all dispensations. He sees indeed the power of God acting to plant the testimony on earth, but he sees that men soon fail in it. The house inhabited by the Holy Ghost becomes dilapidated and in disorder. Nevertheless (and we love to repeat it with the apostle) the sure foundation of the Lord abides for ever. Whatever may be the condition of the whole company, the individual is always to depart from all iniquity, and to maintain, by himself if need be, the true testimony of the name of the Lord. This can never fail the faithful soul.

In view of the mixture and confusion which began to shew itself in the assembly, the apostles comfort was founded on these two principles, while remembering and joyfully availing himself of the communion and faithfulness of some precious souls. He had such as Timothy and Onesiphorus, amid the afflictions of the gospel and the sorrow of being forsaken by so many who were seals to his testimony before the Lord.

The apostle begins by taking the ground of grace and of individual life-which never changes in essential character-outside church privileges. Not that these had changed; but he could no longer connect them with the general body on earth. He calls himself here an apostle according to the promise of eternal life which is in Christ Jesus. It is not merely the Messiah, it is not the head of the body, it is the promise of life which is in Him.

Paul addresses his dearly beloved son Timothy, whose affection he remembers. He desired greatly to see him, being mindful of his tears, shed probably at the time when Paul was made prisoner, or when he was separated from him on that occasion, or when he heard of it. It is the confidence of a friend that is speaking to one whose heart he knew. We see something of this, but in the perfection that was peculiar to Himself, in Jesus on the cross, in that which He said to John and to His mother. A similar form would have been unsuitable in Paul. The affections of men shew themselves in and by their wants, the wants of their hearts; those of the Lord by His condescension. With Him all is in itself perfect. With us it is only by grace that all is in its right place. But when separation to service in power, which knows but that, is over, nature according to God has its right place. In the consecrated meat offering that was to be made with fire, honey had no place.

Verse 3. The apostle does not speak any longer of the high character of his work, but of his personal position rightly felt according to the Spirit. He had served God, following in the steps of his forefathers, with a pure conscience. In every way he was a vessel made unto honour. For more than one generation his ancestors were distinguished for a good conscience; and personal piety, founded on the truth, shewed itself in the service of God. Paul was not here e~ pressing a judgment as to the inward condition of each generation: it was their character. He calls to mind a similar fact with regard to Timothy, in whose case however personal faith is referred to, known to Paul himself, so that the bond, though of personal feeling, was Christian. [1] Judaism, as to its outward obligations, is totally absent; for the father of Timothy was a Greek, and the marriage of his Jewish mother was unclean according to the law, and would have rendered Timothy also unclean and deprived him of Jewish rights; and in fact he had not been circumcised when an infant. Paul did it, which was also not according to the law, unless Timothy had become a proselyte. Both heathens and their children were excluded, as we read in Nehemiah. Pauls act was above the law. Here he takes no notice of it; he leaves the Gentile father out of sight, and speaks only of the personal unfeigned faith of Timothys mother and grandmother, and that of his beloved disciple himself.

The state of the assembly was only an additional occasion for the exercise of his faith, and for his zealous activity of heart and courage. Difficulties and dangers multiplied on every hand; the unfaithfulness of Christians was added to all the rest. But God is none the less with His people. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind, so that the Lords labourer, the man of God, he who kept himself in communion with God in order to represent Him on the earth, was to stir up the gift that was in him, and (as the apostle expresses it with admirable and touching force and clearness) to endure the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Here, in the case of Timothy, the apostle could make mention of a special gift of the Spirit, which had been conferred upon Timothy through the laying on of hands. In the First Epistle he had spoken of the prophecy which had called him or pointed him out for the possession of this gift, and told us that it had been accompanied by the laying on of the hands of the elders; here he tells us that the laying on of his own hands was the means of bestowing it upon him.

The apostle reminds him of this proof of power and reality in his ministry (and in that of Paul himself), in view of this period when its exercise was more difficult. When all is prosperous, and the progress of the gospel is remarkable, so that even the world is struck with it, the work is found to be easy, in spite of difficulties and opposition; and-such is man-even in consequence of this opposition one is bold and persevering. But when others, Christians even, forsake the labourer, when evil and the deceptions of the enemy come in, when love has grown cold, and, because one is faithful, prudence takes alarm, and desires a less forward walk, to stand firm in circumstances like these, to persevere in the work, and maintain ones courage, is not an easy thing. We must possess Christianity with God, so that we know why we stand fast: we must be ourselves in communion with Him, in order to have the strength necessary to continue laboring in His name, and the sustainment of His grace at all times.

God then has given us the Spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind; the apostle had received such a position from God, that he had been able to bestow on Timothy the gift needed for his service but the state of spirit and soul which could use it was part of the inheritance of every Christian who leaned really on God. Nor was he to be ashamed either of the testimony, which was losing outwardly its onward current in the world, nor of Paul who was now a prisoner. How precious to possess that which is eternal, that which is founded on the power and on the work of God Himself! There were indeed the afflictions of the gospel, but he should take part in them and not shrink, enduring according to the power of God. God has saved us, has called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, as though any thing depended on man, but according to His own purpose and His grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This is the sure and immovable foundation, a rock for our souls, against which the waves of difficulty break in vain, shewing a strength which we could not resist for a moment, but shewing also their total powerlessness against the purpose and work of God. The efforts of the enemy only prove that he is without strength, in the presence of that which God is, and of that which He has done for us. And the apostle identifies his ministry with this, and the sufferings he was undergoing. But he knew whom he had believed and his happiness was safe laid up with Him.

That which we have to seek is the power of the Spirit, in order that we may realise this gift of God by faith, and that we may abide, as to our hearts, as to our practical faith, in the sense of our union with Christ, upon this immutable foundation, which is nothing less than the immutability and the glory of God Himself. For His purpose has been manifested; that purpose, which gave us a place and a portion in Christ Himself, was now manifested through the appearance of that very Christ.

It is no longer a nation chosen in the world to display in it the principles of the government of God, and of His ways in righteousness, in patience, in kindness, and in power, on the earth (however unchangeable His counsels, however sure His calling), as manifested in His dealings with regard to the people whom He called.

It is a counsel of God, formed and established in Christ before the world existed, which has its place in the ways of God, outside and above the world, in union with the Person of His Son, and in order to manifest a people united with Him in glory. Thus is it a grace which was given us in Him, before the world was. Hidden in the counsels of God, this purpose of God was manifested with the manifestation of Him in whom it had its accomplishment. It was not merely blessings and dealings of God with regard to men-it was life, eternal life in the soul, and incorruptibility in the body. Thus Paul was apostle according to the promise of life.

While Christ Himself was alive, although life was in Him, this purpose of God was not accomplished with respect to us. The power of life, divine power in life, was to manifest itself in the destruction of the power of death brought in by sin and in which Satan reigned over sinners. Christ then in His resurrection has annulled death, and by the gospel has brought to light both life and incorruptibility, that is to say, that condition of eternal life which puts the soul and the body beyond death and its power. Thus the glad tidings of this work were addressed to all men. Founded in the eternal counsels of God, established in the Person of Christ, the work necessary for its fulfillment being accomplished by Him, possessing a character altogether outside Judaism, and the mere government of God in the earth, Pauls gospel was unto all men. Being the manifestation of the eternal counsels and power of God, having to do with man as lying under the power of death, and with the accomplishment of a victory that placed man beyond that power, and in an entirely new condition which depended on the power of God and His purposes, it addressed itself to man, to all men, Jews or Gentiles without distinction. Knowing Adam dead by sin and Christ alive in the power of divine life, he announced this good news to man- deliverance, and a totally new state of things.

It was to proclaim this gospel that the apostle had been called as a herald. It was for this he suffered, and, in the sense of what had caused it, was not ashamed to suffer. For he knew whom he had believed; he knew His power. He believed in the gospel that he preached, and therefore in the victorious power of Him in whom he believed. He could die with regard to the life that he had received from the first Adam, he could be dishonoured and put to shame in the world and by the world: life in Christ, the power by which Christ had won a place for man outside the condition of the first Adam, life as Christ now possesses it was not touched thereby. Not that life had not been there before, but death and he that had the power of death were not overcome, and all was dark beyond the closing tomb: a lightning flash might pass across the gloom, adequate ground be laid for the just conclusion of the Pharisee, but life and incorruptibility were not brought to light but in Christ and His resurrection.

But this is not all which is here expressed. The apostle does not say in what I have believed, but whom : an important difference, which places us (as to our confidence) in connection with the Person of Christ Himself. The apostle had spoken of the truth, but truth is allied to the Person of Christ. He is the truth; and in Him truth has life, has power, is linked with the love which applies it, which maintains it in the heart and the heart by it. I know, says the apostle, whom I have believed. He had committed his happiness to Christ. In Him was that life in which the apostle participated; in Him, the power that sustained it, and that preserved in heaven the inheritance of glory which was his portion where this life was developed.

Encouraged by this hope and committing himself to Jesus, he had endured all things for Him, and for those who were His; he had accepted all suffering here, he was ready to die daily. His happiness, in the glory of that new life, he had committed to Jesus; he laboured meanwhile in affliction, sure of finding again, without being deceived, that which he had committed to the Lord, in the day when he should see Him and all his sorrows ended. It was in the expectation of that day, in order to find it again at that day, that he had committed to Him his happiness and his joy.

Moreover, his own career would soon be finished; his eyes therefore turn towards Timothy for the welfare of the assembly here below. He exhorts him to be steadfast, to hold fast the truth, as he had taught it to him (it was the testimony of the Lord), but the truth in its realisation by faith in Christ, and according to the power of love that is found in communion with Him. It is this which, as we have seen, the apostle had realised. The truth, and living grace in Jesus, in faith and in love, which gave it its power and its value-these are, as it were, the pivots of strength and faithfulness at all times, and especially for the man of God, when the assembly in general is unfaithful.

Truth as it was taught by the apostles and expressed by them, the manner in which they presented the truth, the form of sound words, is the inspired expression of that which God was pleased to reveal; and that, in all the relationships in which the truth is linked together, in all its different parts, according to the living nature and power of God, who is necessarily its centre as He is its source. Nothing except revelation could be this expression. God expresses everything as it is, and in a living way; and by His word all exists. He is the source and the centre of all things. All flow from Him-are in relation with a living Person, namely Himself, who is their source, from whom all hold their existence. This existence only subsists in connection with Him; and the relationship of all things to Him, and between themselves, is found in the expression of His mind-in that measure at least in which He puts Himself in relation with man in all these things. If evil comes in, as regards will or its consequences in judgment, it is because this relationship is broken; and the relationship that is broken is the measure of the evil.

Thus we see the immense importance of the word of God. It is the expression of the relationship of all things to God; whether as regards their existence- that is, creation-or with respect to His counsels; or even as to His own nature, and the relationship of man with Him, and the communication of life received from Him, and the maintenance of His true character. It comes from heaven as did the living Word, reveals what is there, but adapts itself, as the living Word did, to man here, directs him where there is faith here, but leads him up there where the living Word is gone as man.

The more we consider the word, the more we shall see its importance. Analogously to Christ the living Word, it has its source on high, and reveals what is there, and is perfectly adapted to man down here, giving a perfect rule according to what is up there, and, if we are spiritual, leading us up there: our conversation is in heaven. We must distinguish between the relationship in which man stood as child of Adam, and as child of God. The law is the perfect expression of the requirements of the former, the rule of life to him; it is found to be to death. Once we are sons of God, the life of the Son of God as man down here becomes our rule of life. Be ye imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ hath loved us.

In His nature, as the author of all existence, and the centre of all authority and subsistence outside Himself, God is the centre of all, and the upholder of all. As to His counsels, Christ is the centre, and here man has a peculiar place; wisdoms good pleasure was eternally in Him, and all is to be under His feet. In order that the nature and the counsels of God should not be separated (which indeed is impossible, but what was in His counsels in order that it might not be), God became man. Christ is God made manifest in flesh, the Word made flesh. Thus the divine nature, the expression of that nature, is found in that which is the object of His counsels, that which forms their centre. Thus Christ is the truth-is the centre of all existing relationships: all have reference to Him. We are, through Him, for Him, or we are against Him: all subsist by Him. If we are judged, it is as His enemies. He is the life (spiritually) of all that enjoy the communication of the divine nature; even as He sustains all that exists. His manifestation brings to light the true position of all things. Thus He is the truth. All that He says, being the words of God, are spirit and life; quickening, acting according to grace, judging with regard to the responsibility of His creatures.

But there is yet more than this. He is the revelation of love. God is love, and in Jesus love is in action and is known by the heart that knows Him. The heart that knows Him lives in love, and knows love in God. But He is also the object in whom God is revealed to us, and has become the object of entire reliance. Faith is born by His manifestation. It existed indeed through partial revelation of this same object, by means of which God made Himself known; but these were only partial anticipations of that which has been fully accomplished in the manifestation of Christ, of the Son of

God. The object is the same: formerly, the subject of promise and prophecy; now, the personal revelation of all that God is, the image of the invisible God, the One in whom the Father also is known.

Thus faith and love have their birth, their source, in the object which by grace has created them in the soul: the object in which it has learnt what love is, and with regard to which faith is exercised. By Him we believe in God. No one has ever seen God: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has revealed Him.

Truth is thus revealed, for Jesus is the Truth, the expression of that which God is, so as to put all things perfectly in their place, in their true relationships with God and with each other. Faith and love find the occasion of their existence in the revelation of the Son of God, of God as a Saviour in Christ.

But there is another aspect of the accomplishment of the work and of the counsels of God, which we have not yet spoken of: that is, the communication of the truth and of the knowledge of God. This is the work of the Holy Ghost, in which the truth and the life are united, for we are begotten by the word. It is divine energy in the Deity, acting in all that connects God with the creature or the creature with God. Acting in divine perfection as God, in union with the Father and the Son, the Holy Ghost reveals the counsels of which we have spoken, and makes them effectual in the heart, according to the purpose of the Father, and by the revelation of the Person and work of the Son. I have said, divine energy, not as a theological definition-which is not my object here-but as a practical truth, for while attributing all that regards the creature to the Father (except judgment, which is entirely committed to the Son, because He is the Son of man) and to the Son the immediate action in creation and on the creature, wherever it takes place, is attributed to the Spirit.

The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters when this earth was formed; by His Spirit the heavens were garnished; we are born of the Spirit; sealed with the Spirit; holy men of God spake by the Spirit; gifts were the operation of the Spirit distributing to whom He would; He bears witness with our spirits; He groans in us; we pray by the Holy Ghost, if that grace is bestowed upon us. The Lord Himself, born as man in this world was conceived by the Holy Ghost; by the Spirit of God He cast out devils. The Spirit bears witness of all things, that is to say, of all truth in the word:-the love of the Father, the nature and the glory of God Himself, His character, the Person and glory and love of the Son, His work, form the substance of His testimony, with all that relates to man in connection with these truths. The Spirits witness to these things is the word, and-produced by means of men-takes the shape of the truth formally set forth by revelation. Christ is the truth, as we have seen, the centre of all the ways of God; but what we are now speaking of is the divine communication of this truth; and in this way it can be said that the word is the truth. [2] But, although communicated by means of men, so that it takes a form adapted to man, its source is divine; and He who has communicated it is divine: He of whom it is said, he shall not speak of himself (that is to say, from Himself-apart from the Father and the Son). Consequently the revelation of the truth has all the depth, the universality of relationship, the inseparable connection with God (without which it would not be truth, for all that is separate from God is falsehood) which truth itself possesses-necessarily possesses- because it is the expression of the relationships which all things have to God in Christ; that is to say, of Gods own thoughts, of which all these relationships are but the expression. It is true that this revelation also judges all that is not in accordance with these relationships, and judges according to the value of the relationship that is broken with regard to God Himself, and the place which this relationship has in His mind.[3] When this word is received through the quickening work of the Holy Ghost in the heart it is efficacious; there is faith, the soul is in real living practical relationship with God according to that which is expressed in the revelation it has received. The truth-which speaks of the love of God, of holiness, of cleansing from all sin, of eternal life, of the relationship of children-being received into the heart, places us in real present living relationship with God, according to the force of all these truths, as God conceives them and as He has revealed them to the soul. Thus they are vital and efficacious by the Holy Ghost; and the consciousness of this revelation of the truth, and of the truth of that which is revealed, and of really hearing the voice of God in His word, is faith.

But all this is true in the revealed word before I believe in it, and in order that I may believe in it- may believe in the truth-although the Holy Ghost alone makes us hear the voice of God in it, and so produces faith. And that which is revealed in it is the divine expression of that which belongs to the infinite on the one side, and is expressed in the finite on the other; of that which has the profoundness of the nature of God, from whom all proceeds, with whom and with whose rights all is in relationship but which is developed-since it is outside God-in creation and in the finite.

The union of God and man in the Person of Christ is the centre-we may say (now that we know it) the necessary centre of all this, as we have seen. And the inspired word is its expression according to the perfection of God, and (we bless God for it, as the Saviour is the grand subject of the scriptures, for, said He, they testify of me ) in human forms.

But this word, being divine, being inspired, is the divine expression of the divine nature, persons, and counsels. Nothing that is not inspired in this way can have this place-for none but God can perfectly express or reveal what God is-hence infinite in what flows in it; because it is the expression of, and connected with, the depths of the divine nature and so in its connection infinite, though expressed in a finite sense, and so far finite in expression, and thus adapted to finite man. Nothing else is the divine expression of the divine mind and truth, or is in direct union with the unmixed source, even though it sprang from the same source. The immediate connection is broken; that which is said is no longer divine. It may contain many truths, but the living derivation, the infinite the union with God, the immediate and uninterrupted derivation from God, are wanting. The infinite is no longer there. The tree grows from its root, and forms one whole; the energy of life pervades it-the sap which flows from the root. We may consider one part, as God has set it there, as a part of the tree; we may see the importance of the trunk; the beauty of the development in its smallest details, the stateliness of the whole, in which the vital energy combines liberty and harmony of form. We see that it is a whole, united in one by the same life that produced it. The leaves, the flowers, the fruit, all tell us of the warmth of that divine Sun which developed them, of the gushing inexhaustible stream which nourishes them. But we cannot separate one part, be it ever so beautiful, from the tree, without depriving it of the energy of life and its relationship with the whole.

When the power of the Spirit of God produces the truth, it develops itself in union with its source, whether in revelation or even in the life and in the service of the individual; although in the two latter cases there is a mixture of other elements, owing to the weakness of the man. When a mans mind apprehends the truth, and he seeks to give it a form, he does it according to the capacity of man, which is not its source; the truth as he expresses it, even were it pure, is separated in him from its source and its totality; but, besides this, the shapethat a man gives it always bears the stamp of the mans weakness. He has only apprehended it partially, and he only produces a part of it. Accordingly it is no longer the truth. Moreover, when he separates it from the whole circle of truth in which God has placed it, he must necessarily clothe it in a new form, in a garment which proceeds from man: at once error mixes with it. Thus it is no longer a vital part of the whole, it is partial, and thereby not the truth; and it is in fact mixed with error. That is theology.

In the truth there is, when God expresses it, love, holiness, authority, as they are in Him the expression of His own relationships with man, and of the glory of His being. When man gives it a shape, all this is wanting and cannot be in it, because it is man who shapes it. It is no longer God speaking. God gives it a perfect form; that is to say, He expresses the truth in words of certainty. If man gives it a form, it is no longer the truth given of God. Therefore to hold fast the truth in the form God has given it, the type, the shape in which He has expressed it, is of all importance: we are in relationship with God in it according to the certainty of that which He has revealed. This is the sure resource of the soul, when the assembly has lost its power and its energy, and is no longer a sustainment to feeble souls; and that which bears its name no longer answers to the character given it, in the First Epistle, the pillar and support of the truth. [4] The truth, clear and positive truth, given as a revelation from God in the words-clothed with His authority-by which He has given the truth a form, communicating the facts and the divine thoughts which are necessary for the salvation of men, and for their participation in divine life-this it is which we are to hold fast.

We are only sure of the truth when we retain the very language of God which contains it. By grace I may speak of the truth in all liberty, I may seek to explain it, to communicate it, to urge it on the conscience, according to the measure of light and spiritual power bestowed upon me; I may endeavor to demonstrate its beauty, and the connection between its various parts. Every Christian, and especially those who have a gift from God for the purpose, may do this. But the truth which I explain and propose is the truth as God has given it, and in His own words in the revelation He has made. I hold fast the form of sound words, which I have received from a divine source and authority: it gives me certainty in the truth.

And here it is important to remark the assemblys part when faithful. She receives, she maintains the truth in her own faith; she guards it, she is faithful to it, she is subject to it, as a truth, a revelation, which comes from God Himself. She is not the source of the truth. As an assembly she does not propagate it-does not teach it. She says I believe, not believe. This last is the function of ministry, in which man is always individually in relationship with God by means of a gift which he holds from God, and for the exercise of which he is responsible to God. This is all-important. Those who possess these gifts are members of the body. The assembly exercises her discipline with regard to all that is of the flesh in them, in the exercise or apparent exercise of a gift, as in all else. She preserves her own purity without respect of persons as to their outward appearance, being guided therein by the word (for this is her responsibility); but she does not teach, she does not preach.

The word goes before the assembly, for she has been gathered together by the word. The apostles, a Paul, those who were scattered abroad by the persecution, a thousand faithful souls, have proclaimed the word, and thus the assembly has been gathered out. It has been said that the assembly was before the scriptures. As regards the written contents of the New Testament, this is true; but the preached word was before the assembly. The assembly is its fruit but is never its source. The edification even of the assembly, when it has been gathered together, comes direct from God, through the gifts which He has bestowed; the Holy Ghost distributing to each according to His will.

The scriptures are the means which God has used to preserve the truth, to give us certainty in it; seeing the fallibility of the instruments by whom it is propagated, since revelation has ceased.

If at the beginning He filled certain persons with His Spirit in such a way that error was excluded from their preaching, if besides this He then gave revelations in which there was nothing but His own word, yet as a general rule preaching is the fruit of the Holy Ghost in the heart, and its spirituality is only in measure, and there is the possibility of error. Here, whatever may be the power of the Spirits work, we have to judge. (See Act 17:11; 1Co 14:29) Farther on we shall see that in forming this judgment, it is the scriptures which assure those who are led of God.

We have thus in the ways of God respecting this subject three things closely united, yet different: ministry, the assembly, and the word of God, that is, the written word; when it is not written, it belongs to the order of ministry.

Ministry-as regards the word, for this is not the only service-preaches to the world, and teaches or exhorts the members of the assembly.

The assembly enjoys communion with God, is fed, and grows by means of that with which its different members supply it. It preserves, and, in its confession, bears witness to the truth. It maintains holiness, and, by the grace and presence of the Holy Ghost, enjoys mutual communion; and, in love, cares for the temporal need of all its members.

The written word is the rule which God has given, containing all that He has revealed. It is complete. (Col 1:25) It can, because it is the truth, be the means of communicating the truth to a soul: the Holy Ghost can use it as a means; but at all events it is the perfect rule, the authoritative communication of the will and the mind of God, for the assembly.

The assembly is subject, is to be faithful, to have no will. It does not reveal, it maintains by its confession, it watches over that which it has, it does not communicate; it has received and is faithfully to keep. The man directs, that is, Christ: the woman obeys, and is faithful to her husbands thoughts-at least ought to be so (l Cor 2):): this is the assembly. The oracles of God are committed to her. She does not give them; she obeys them.

The minister is bound individually to the same faithfulness. This we understand; and in our epistle we have especially to do with this individual responsibility. That which the assembly is in this respect is revealed in the first epistle. (Chap.3:15) Here it is the individual who is to hold fast this form of sound words which he has received from a divine source, for such the apostle was, in his apostolic function, as an instrument. Neither Timothy nor the assembly could frame such a form of sound words; their part was to hold it fast, having received it. And here, as we have said, however unfaithful the assembly may be, the individual is bound to be faithful and always to be so.

This therefore is what we have to do: the truth which is set before us is the inspired word we are (and I am) to hold fast, in the form in which it is presented to us. I am to hold it fast, not merely as a proposition, but in union with the Head, in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. Strength to fulfill comes from above. For here another point is brought before us. The Holy Ghost has been given indeed to the assembly; but a period of unfaithfulness is here contemplated. (Ver. 15) He has been given to the man of God, to each Christian, and to each servant with reference to the service appointed him. By the Holy Ghost we are to keep the good thing that has been committed to us. In days like those, this was the duty of the man of God; and in our day, things have gone much farther. Possessing the promise of life, and forsaken by the mass of Christians, he is to hold fast the truth in the words in which it has been expressed by divine authority (this is what we have in the word, and not merely doctrine: people may say that they have the doctrine of Peter and Paul, but they cannot say that they have their words, the form of the truth as Paul and Peter gave it, elsewhere than in their writings); and he is to hold it fast in faith and love, which are in Christ. Moreover he is to keep, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the substance of the truth, that which has been given us as a treasure-the deposit of divine truth and riches, which has been given us as our portion here below.

In2 Tim. 1: 15-18 we find that the mass had quite turned away from the apostle, so that the affection and faithfulness of one became very precious to him. What a change already since the beginning of the gospel! Compare the Thessalonians, the Ephesians: they were the same people (for Ephesus was the capital of what is here called Asia) among whom Paul had preached, so that all Asia had heard the gospel; and see how they had all now forsaken him! We must not however suppose that they had all abandoned the profession of Christianity; but their faith had become weak, and they did not like to identify themselves with a man who was in disgrace with the authorities, who was despised and persecuted, a prisoner-a man whose energy brought reproach and personal difficulties upon himself. They withdrew from him, and left him to answer alone for himself. Sad result of spiritual decline! But what sentiments should animate the man of God at such a moment? He must be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Christ was not changed, whatever the case might be with men; and he who suffered from their desertion could, without being discouraged, exhort his beloved Timothy to persevere steadily in the word. Nor do we find anywhere the man of God called to more full and unhesitating courage than in this epistle, which is the testimony of the failure and ruin of the assembly.

Footnotes for 2 Timothy Chapter 1

1: It is indeed the basis of the exhortation of verse 6. When the faith of so many is giving~ way, he turns to the personal confidence which his heart had in Timothy, nourished up through grace by the atmosphere he had lived in.

2: Hence also it is said (l Joh 5:1-47), the Spirit is truth.

3: This is true as regards guilt. But God, being perfectly revealed, and that in grace as the Father and the Son, our apprehension of the ruin in which we are, goes deeper fart than the sense of guilt as the breach of previously existing relationships. We were guilty according to our place as men. But we were atheos, without God in the world, and (when God is known) this is awful. The beginning of Romans treats the question of guilt; Eph 2:1-22, the sate we were in; Joh 5:24 briefly resumes grace as to both. The relationship now is an entirely new one, founded on purpose, redemption, and our being children of God.

4: The doctrines or dogmas of scripture have their importance and their adaptation to the simplest soul in this, that they are facts, and so objects of faith, not notions. Thus Christ is God, Christ is man, the Holy Ghost is a Person, and the like, are facts for faith realized in the simplest soul.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

PROLOGUE

This letter is by all the critics located in the Mamertine prison at Rome. It is immediately contiguous to the old judgment-hall, where Nero sat upon the worlds tribunal, and tried the apostle for his life, condemning him to decapitation, the more honorable punishment of a Roman citizen in contradistinction to the ignominious crucifixion inflicted on aliens. The judgment-hall is immediately west of the old Forum, where Cicero spoke and Caesar bled; the Mamertine prison on the north, and the Coliseum on the south. In a former letter Paul speaks of his plan to spend the winter at Nicopolis. This the critics believed to have been interrupted by his arrest as an evil-doer, and his transportation to Rome and incarceration in the Mamertine prison, out of which he was led, perhaps, before the ink with which this epistle was written was dry, arraigned before Nero, and led away to the bloody block about one mile out from the western gate of Rome. When I was there in 1895, I visited all these places, following him from the Mamertine prison to the judgment-hall, and thence about two miles through the streets of the city to the west gate, which is still standing, the wall, gate, and stone pyramid on each side being preserved to this day, as mementos in the tragical history of the beloved apostle. From the west gate it is about one mile to the spot where he was beheaded. St. Peters Cathedral, built exclusively of the finest marble transported from Africa, and costing fifty-five millions of dollars, now occupies the spot where the ruthless Roman soldier drew the sword and severed from the body the noblest human head that ever moved heaven, earth, and hell. In the altar containing the tomb candles burn incessantly, radiating constantly every tint and hue of the rainbow, resultant from the decomposition of the light by the many valuable diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and other precious stones encompassing the tomb of that eminent saint. I am satisfied Dean Alford, with other eminent critics, is correct as to the second Roman imprisonment of Paul. On his first arraignment at Neros bar, doubtless some time in A.D. 63, he was acquitted, from the simple fact that there was not a solitary allegation against him, recognized as criminal in Roman law. This verdict had been given by Lysias, Felix, and Agrippa in Palestine, and afterward corroborated by the emperor, who, consequently, released him. Pursuant to his promise to the Asiatic saints in Ephesians and Colossians, and to the Europeans in Philippians, after his release he returned to Asia, visiting and establishing the Churches. In 65, crossing the Aegean Sea, he again visits the Churches in Macedonia; meanwhile he dictates to Luke, his faithful amanuensis, the first epistle to Timothy and the epistle to Titus. You see the chronology dates this letter in A.D. 66; doubtless in the beginning of the winter he had expected to spend at Nicopolis in Southern Macedonia, where, having been arrested pursuant to the imperial edict, condemning all the Christians in the world to die for burning Rome, he is again carried in chains a prisoner to the worlds metropolis, no longer charged with trivial allegations of Jewish superstition, but the high crime of burning Rome, the Eternal City, sacred to all the gods. As Paul was not at Rome at the time of the conflagration, of course they could not accuse him of having personal connection with it (Nero himself causing the conflagration that he might lay it on the Christians and have an excuse to kill them all); but, as a prominent leader of the Christians, of course he was implicated, and one of the first to start that river of martyrs blood which flowed on three hundred years, finally arrested by the conversion of Constantine.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

2Ti 1:1. Paul according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. On this promise of eternal life the whole system of revelation is built; for this cause Paul was made an apostle, that he might preach this hope to a benighted world. This eternal life, now confirmed by Christ, was promised from the foundation of the world. Gen 17:7. Lev 18:5. Deu 31:16. When Moses pressed the observance of the law, he added, It is not a vain (or light) thing for you, because it is your life; and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land. Deu 32:47. Here is a double promise of temporal life in the land, and of eternal life, in the world to come.

2Ti 1:2. To Timothy, my dearly beloved son. Children are more especially endeared to a father when he is about to die, and such was now the situation of Paul the aged, looking forward to martyrdom. Grace, or the favour of God, is first implored, as the source of all other good. Mercy, which is a modification of grace, to preserve the life of Timothy amid the dangers of the present world, and to commiserate him under all his trials. And peace from God, as a reconciled Father, the result of grace and mercy, and the earnest of eternal rest.

2Ti 1:3-5. I thank God that I have remembrance of thee in my prayers. Nothing can be more paternal than this address, nothing more pertinent, more impressive, or better calculated to encourage Timothy to persevere in the work of the Lord. He had an interest in the apostles affections which perhaps no other individual possessed, and it must have afforded him great satisfaction to know it; nothing is more desirable than the esteem of eminently holy men, next to the lovingkindness of the Lord.

2Ti 1:6. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee, from the putting on of my hands. This is repeated from the first epistle: 1Ti 4:14. By the repeating of this reference, we gather that the ordination of Timothy was a memorable occasion; that the heavens had been open to prayer, and that the Spirit of power and love had been largely poured out, as an encouraging token of the glory that would attend the consecration of this young man to the Lord.

2Ti 1:8. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. To justify a man condemned, is to arraign the justice by which he received his sentence. If Paul were involved in the popular fury which then raged against the innocent, it was the more a duty to honour in a most decided manner the character of him who had uniformly been a confessor, and finally became a martyr for the truth. See the introduction to this epistle.

2Ti 1:9. Who hath saved us and called us. Christ saves his people from the guilt and punishment of sin by being made sin for us, thus covering us with his arm, and braving the thunderbolts of justice levelled against us. And having procured for us a plenitude of salvation, and of eternal glory, he has called us according to his own purpose and grace. See on Eph 1:4. Tit 1:2.

2Ti 1:10. Christ hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. By becoming a sacrifice for sin, he has abolished death, which is the wages of sin, so that it is no longer a penal sentence against them that believe. He has therefore said, Oh death, I will be thy plague. Oh grave, I will be thy destruction. By consequence, he has illustrated and demonstrated, by the light of the gospel, and by his own resurrection, the promise of eternal life. The temporal promises under the law were figures of spiritual and eternal felicity. St. Paul also has affirmed, that godliness has the promise of present and of eternal life. 1Ti 4:8. The heathen world, wide as the wandering tribes of the earth, took with them those ideas of a future state. The poor Indian hopes that his dog shall accompany him there in the chase. But the learned among the heathen had chaster ideas. The souls of all men, says Cicero, are indeed immortal; but the good and the virtuous are divine. Omnium quidem animi immortales sunt, sed fortium bonorumque divini. De Legibus. They are made partakers of the divine nature.

Cyrus, as quoted on Ezr 6:10, spake to his sons in his last sickness very explicitly on this subject, as is reported by Xenophon, whose works are now before me. By consequence, the Saviour has given us what we wanted, demonstration of a future world. Handle me, said he to his disciples, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have.

2Ti 1:12. I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day; the glorious appearing of the great God, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Tit 2:13. Here is the full assurance of faith; yea, of hope unto the end. Paul rested his own salvation on the doctrine he taught to others. He had no fear of falling away when he saw the sword unsheathed, or the axe laid on the block to strike off his head. He trusted in the power of Christ to keep him, not indeed forgetting his former triumph, for he had long been persuaded that nothing should be able to separate him from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:38-39.

But how shall the Lord Jesus be able to keep the souls of all his people, and to guard their everlasting interests, if there lurk in any part of the universe an insidious adversary of which he is not cognizant, and whose machinations he is not competent to defeat? How keep them, unless his power and dominion be absolute and illimitable, extending over every thought and every action that might be hostile, and unless he has the superintendence of all worlds, with ability to controul all possible contingencies and events? How be persuaded that he is able to keep until the great day, the souls committed to his care, unless we are equally persuaded, not only of his infinite ability, but of his faithfulness to the trust reposed, that his promises like himself are all immutable, and his love without the shadow of a change. If he be not God over all, and blessed for ever, neither Paul nor any other saint could exercise unlimited confidence, in committing their immortal interests into the hands of their Redeemer. But the divinity of our Lord is everywhere implied, where it is not directly stated, and lies at the foundation of the entire system of redemption.

2Ti 1:13-14. Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me. Let them be treasured up in thy heart, and recited in thy sermons. Let them be repeated in conversation, and transmitted to all the new and rising churches. Keep them with all other truths that have been committed to thee by the Holy Ghost.

2Ti 1:16. The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, that is, his children and family, for the father was probably resident in some other city. Grateful recollections! He often refreshed me with food and lodging. At the risk of his life he opened his door for me in Iconium, and sought me out diligently in Rome. The Lord grant that he may find mercy in that day, the rewards of righteousness, which in our scriptures are not reckoned as debts, but as the gifts of a Fathers love.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2Ti 1:1-5. IntroductorySalutation (2Ti 1:1 f.) and Thanksgiving (2Ti 1:3-5).For the official form of salutation cf. 1Ti 1:1 f.*

Moved by affectionate remembrance, Paul, thanks God for some recent reminder of Timothys faith, a faith witnessed earlier in his mother and grandmother.

2Ti 1:2. mercy: 1Ti 1:2*.

2Ti 1:3. The ground of thanksgiving is 2Ti 1:5 (contrast AV and RV), and the true rendering: I thank God . . . since my remembrance . . . is unceasing . . . that I have been reminded.

2Ti 1:4. tears at their last separation.faith: not Jewish (Zahn), but as the sequence of thought demands, Christian.Eunice: Act 16:1.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Despite the fact of his heart being so drawn out in this epistle, Paul writes as “an apostle,” not as a servant, nor even as a brother. Does this not stress the strongly authoritative character of that which he writes? The truth is urged imperatively upon the soul as that which is so vital to godliness in days of lax giving up to weakness and spiritual decay. And he is an apostle “by the will of God,” not by his own choice, nor by that of other men, a matter deeply important in days when democracy and human rights become foremost in men’s minds, and Christianity itself is invaded by this subtle corruption of the truth. “The will of God” remains paramount, and calls at all times for the true submission of the individual, whatever the condition of things may be publicly.

Moreover, the epistle is characteristically “according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.” Titus (ch. 1:2) shows this promise to have originated “before the ages of time”: therefore it is life above and beyond all dispensations and ages: it cannot be affected by all the tests of history: the decay and ruin of all church testimony is no hindrance to this blessed promise. Wonderful encouragement indeed for the child of God! For the promise is “in Christ Jesus,” dependent only upon the sufficiency and perfection of His own Person. Precious, stable, faithful resting place for faith!

It is precious to observe how the pressure of affliction more draws out the heart’s affections; for the apostle here addresses Timothy as “my dearly beloved child,” rather than, as in the first epistle, “my true child in the faith.” Nor would this fail to comfort and strengthen the heart of Timothy at such a time. But the same fullness of blessing is desired for him here, the threefold supply of “grace, mercy, and peace,” each so necessary and precious in its place, and proceeding “from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord,” the fruit therefore of the full revelation of the glory of God in the Person of His beloved Son.

The apostle thanks God, the same God he had served from his forefathers, and this, of course, recognizes the truth he had known before Christianity came, and to which he had been subject “with pure conscience.” This does clearly illustrate the fact that conscience is no sufficient guide for the soul; for when Paul (then named Saul) was persecuting Christians, his conscience was actually approving this solemn evil: he thought he was doing God service. But at least, he was not guilty of deliberate dishonesty. And it is with genuine concern that he writes to Timothy, not ceasing to keep him in his prayers “night and day.” It is not, of course, that this was the sole occupation of his thoughts, but Paul did not simply pray for Timothy for a few days following his leaving him, and then forget: it was a continuing matter. Night being mentioned first, before day, no doubt indicates that the times of darkness and loneliness were gone through without affecting the ardor of prayer, while in the more pleasant circumstance of “day” it was not neglected either.

Circumstances of pressure and sorrow had the precious effect of drawing out the longing of Paul’s heart to see Timothy, whose very character was such as to be a comfort to him, and whose tears (no doubt in connection with the public breaking down of Christian testimony, and departure from Paul’s doctrine) were a matter so affecting to Paul that he would not forget them.

And the apostle was free to encourage the younger man by commending “the unfeigned faith” that was evident in him, reminding him too that this dwelt first in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. The meanings of the names here are lovely; Lois meaning “no flight,” and Eunice, “happy victory.” In days of real trial of faith, is it not sweetly true that “no flight,” no slipping away, but facing things with God, will issue in “happy victory”? And the issue of this is “Timothy,” meaning “honoring God.” Can we not imagine how deeply Timothy would appreciate this verse? And whose heart can fail to be stirred with the desire of earning the same commendation?

Whatever was the nature of Timothy’s special gift, he had evidently allowed some feeling of discouragement to hinder its proper exercise. The New Translation of J. N. Darby uses the word “rekindle” rather than “stir up.” Whatever was to transpire – whether a general turning away from Paul and his doctrine, or even his being put to death – Timothy must not give in to all these pressures of the enemy! God’s gift to him remained, and should be rekindled and used in a full and real way, for it surely was the more needed in times of departure. We learn here also that Timothy’s gift was given in an exceptional way, by the putting on of Paul’s hands. This is certainly extraordinary, for gift is normally given by the independent operation of the Spirit of God (1Co 12:7-11). But the Spirit of God in Timothy’s case used Paul as the instrument, while accompanied with “the laying on of the hands of the elderhood” (1Ti 4:14), that is, with their fully expressed fellowship.

And the Spirit, who communicated the gift and who dwells in every child of God, is not a spirit of fear. If, therefore, we give in to our own fears, we are not walking in the Spirit, for He is the Spirit “of power, and love, and of a sound mind.” Observe how power and love are connected here: there is no weakness in the Spirit of God, but love is the very energy by which His power is exercised. “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given unto us” (Rom 5:5). The more positive and full the expanding of the heart in love toward others, the more will the liberty and power of the Spirit be in evidence, with calm courage of faith. And He is the Spirit of a sound mind also, for it is He who brings everything to its proper, sober level; who makes all to take its place in consistent balance with all else. If our minds are otherwise, it is because we do not allow Him His proper control over us. Of course the flesh is still in a believer, and he may be mentally unbalanced, but this stems from the old nature, not from the new. The Spirit is still the Spirit of a sound mind, and in certain areas where the knowledge of Christ is concerned, this will be evident even in a believer who in other respects suffers mental aberrations. It is a great mercy this is so; but a believer should seek in every respect to allow the Spirit of God such liberty and control that it will be manifest in every department of life. This is itself a great preservative of the mind’s condition, though one could not suppose it to be a guarantee against physical infirmity and deterioration, which ofttimes affects the brain too, the brain being physical, the mind not so.

Verse 8 shows that God’s marvellous provision of verse 7, the living presence of the Spirit of God, is not to be considered as operating independently of the exercise and cooperation of the individual. But a due consideration of the fact of such provision will certainly render one unashamed of the testimony of the Lord. The exhortation not to be ashamed has a most solid basis. There is no right reason for fear: therefore we are perfectly entitled to dismiss it totally. In any real sense, no believer is ashamed of the Lord Himself; but the danger is present that he might be ashamed of His testimony, or ashamed of identification with one suffering for His sake. Timothy needed his mind stirred up as to these things, and he is not alone as regards such a need. He is encouraged to “suffer evil along with the glad tidings, according to the power of God.” If the gospel is held in contempt of men, let me be willing to share this by fullest fellowship with it. It was thoroughly this for which Paul suffered, and not at all as an evildoer: therefore fellowship with Paul was fellowship with the pure gospel of God.

Moreover, this would be “according to the power of God.” How contrary is this to the natural thought of man, the fact that such power is seen in the willingness to suffer for the sake of the gospel. Even Christians are too often deceived by what appears to be great public displays of power, and many desire these things as evidence of God’s working. In this case they will as likely as not be deceived by Satanic delusion. Where are we to see the actual power of God? The answer is evident in our verse: the willingness to suffer in lowly faith along with the precious gospel of grace is a wonderful setting in which the power of God is committed to the individual to enable him to bear tribulation and reproach for Christ’s sake. That triumphant energy that carries everything before it is not at all for the child of God today. True moral power – the power of God – is seen in the submission of heart that takes its place along with the despised testimony of God.

That same power is seen in the faCt that He “has saved us, and called us with an holy calling.” For the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16): it is not simply kindness and mercy involved here, but power acting on behalf of those previously lost in sin, power acting in the midst of all that is so contrary to God. Precious it is to see this wonderful divine workmanship raising up vital, energetic life out of ruins, and in the very midst of ruins!

It is not a questionable thing, but a settled fact: He “hath saved us” – whether Paul, Timothy, or any other true believer – “and called us with an holy calling.” This distinctively places us in a position apart from all former identification: it is a “heavenly calling” (Heb 3:1), or “The calling on high of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:14 -J.N.D. Trans.), a calling of dignity and blessedness infinitely precious, as high as heaven is above the earth.

It is impossible that this could be “according to our works,” for in that case it would be our workmanship, not God’s: such a result required infinitely more than mankind could achieve: it required the power of God. Therefore, it is “according to his own purpose and grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time.” How completely above and beyond man’s works are these precious expressions, “His own purpose and grace! “No one was then present to influence His purpose, no one ever having lived to raise a question as to what kind of a life would be blessed with His grace. No, it is rather the grace of God known and believed that rightly forms man’s life.

Yet, this was “given us . . . before the ages of time,” and this expression would seem to connect with Tit 1:2 : “In hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie, promised before the ages of time.” If the purpose itself was eternal, yet the promise given us is no doubt in the words of God to the woman in the Garden of Eden, that her seed would crush the serpent’s head. The promise was given before man was sent out of the garden to be tested by the various dispensations of God; for these ages evidently only began in connection with man estranged from God. But since the purpose was eternal, and the promise given immediately before man was tested in the various ages of time, therefore this absolute purpose and grace is not in the least affected by all that is involved in man’s history.

All of this, however, was not made manifest until “the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ,” for it is by and in Him that these blessed purposes are fulfilled. Only in Him, the supreme Object of faith, could we possibly comprehend the truth of these things, and find them vitally real: only in Him personally could such a manifestation be possible. He is seen as Savior here, acting in both grace and power on our behalf. In His own death and resurrection He “has annulled death.” Mere natural wisdom will not understand this, of course, for man knows in experience that death is in painful evidence everywhere around him. But faith can see that all the power of death is broken for the believer. Christ has triumphed over it in His voluntary humiliation even unto death, and in His being raised from the dead the third day. Therefore death holds no terrors for the child of God: it has no power to hold him a helpless prisoner: if he should die, this is only a step in the fulfillment of God’s superior purpose concerning him: his resurrection is as certain a matter as that of the Lord Jesus. For “the sting of death is sin,” which has been fully atoned for at Calvary, so that for the believer the sting is gone (cf. 1Co 15:55-57).

Added to this, He “hath brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel.” Paul very simply declares the gospel in 1Co 15:1-4, as this, “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again from the dead the third day according to the Scriptures.” Hence, it is life out of death – resurrection life – spoken of; and with it “incorruptibility,” life therefore in a state impossible of being corrupted. The believer certainly has this life now, as identified with Christ in resurrection, though he also has natural life, which is subject to decay and death; and only when Christ comes again will the resurrection life be seen in full display, “death swallowed up in victory,” and life and incorruptibility manifested in the saints then as it is now in Christ.

It was of this glorious gospel that the apostle was appointed a preacher, and apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. We must take note of the fact of Paul’s appointment here: the Spirit of God required that this be insisted upon. It was no mere appointment of men, and is not by any means intended as a criterion for others to follow. In fact, as to Timothy, no mention whatever is made as to his being appointed to anything, nor are we even told what gift Timothy had been given, though Paul tells him to stir it up, and also tells him to “do the work of an evangelist” (ch. 4:5). But Paul was given the special responsibility of “laying the foundation,” as “a wise master builder” (1Co 3:10), and the Spirit of God therefore emphasizes this in order to press home the authority of the apostle’s message. Anyone else attempting this in regard to himself would only display his glaring insubjection to the Spirit of God. As Scripture often notes, so here again, Paul was sent to the nations, not to Israel, though his heart longed after his own people (Rom 10:1).

Those who aspire to some place of official appointment or recognition are not generally those who are fully prepared to suffer persecution for Christ’s sake. Paul had not desired the place, but he was thoroughly willing to suffer for Christ if needs be. God put him in the position in which he could not escape suffering. But he was not at all ashamed, for his faith was in the blessed Person of Christ: he knew whom he had believed, not merely what he had believed.

This gives absolute persuasion as to the faithfulness of God in keeping what Paul had committed to Him. Does this not include everything concerning Paul’s well-being and his needs of whatever kind? And it is in view of “that day,” the day of manifestation, so that the apostle had no slightest doubt as to his being satisfied with the eventual result. The Greek form of the expression here is evidently a noun, literally, ,’my deposit.” It is as though he had deposited with God everything concerning himself: there could therefore be no doubt of its being securely held. In fact, who can doubt that in such hands the interest itself will multiply immeasurably?

Having spoken of the perfect faithfulness of God through whatever circumstances of dependent need, the apostle now may turn to the becoming responsibility of his child Timothy. It was most important that he should hold a clear outline (or pattern) of sound words. Paul had communicated these things to him, but he was not to take them merely as a disjointed, unrelated collection of good words. To hold them in the soul, in orderly form, as sound words forming a united pattern, is of great importance. For the truth of God is one. It is true that one may see those things connected in a different way than another sees; and it is no mere formal creed here advocated for the acceptance of everybody; but the exercise of the individual in having sound words rightly formed in his soul in a pattern of consistency with the entire Word of God. This personal enjoyment and comprehension of the Word can be likened to the honeycomb. The Word itself is “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb” (Psa 19:10), but honey is symbolical of the ministry of the Word and the honeycomb would speak therefore of that ministry stored up for use in orderly form, just the thing that is here urged upon Timothy.

But “sound words” are not to be dry or cold: they are to be liberally mixed with “faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” Faith, the reality of confidence in the Living One, will effectually banish dryness; and love, the warmth of unfeigned affection, is the total opposite of coldness. Then being “in Christ Jesus” lifts the whole matter as high as heaven is above earth, giving precious balance and substance, a fullness with no lack.

It has been seen that Paul had entrusted to God a deposit of all that concerned him. Here rather God has entrusted to Timothy a good deposit, which Timothy is enjoined to keep. Would verse 13 not indicate the way in which Timothy was to assess and appreciate the value of this deposit? This is that which belongs to God, the sacred truth of His Word, and to be held in solemn trust by the servant to whose hand it is committed. Indeed it is only right too that the Master should be entitled to interest in view of so valuable a deposit. Compare Luk 19:23 : at least in one case the servant’s pound had gained ten pounds, in another five. The one effective way of keeping this deposited trust is by using it for the Master. But it is not ours to give up to the enemy as we please: we must not allow it to be stolen away. If we feel the great responsibility of this, and at the same time our own helplessness to fulfill it, let us but remember that the Holy Spirit dwells in us, abides continually, and we have but to allow Him to exercise His own blessed power in this matter.

Though Timothy knew this, it was necessary to pen this

reminder, both for his own sake, and for ours. How painfully sad, as the apostle neared the end, to be faced with, not only the increased persecution of the enemy, but the turning away of the large number of saints in Asia. Paul had spent 3 years in Ephesus, ceasing not to warn everyone night and day with tears (Act 20:31). From there the word had gone out to the surrounding areas of Asia, bearing much fruit. He does not say they had turned away from the Lord, but from himself. It seems likely therefore that Paul’s doctrines of the gospel of the glory of Christ, that which sets aside man in the flesh and gives the believer a heavenly position apart from the world entirely, had become too unpalatable; and the attitude of settling down in the world was taking the place of a fresh fervent spirit of affection for the person of Christ. It was not apostasy, but an evident ignoring of Paul and his doctrine.

What a leading up to that of which he warned the Ephesian elders: “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your ownselves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Act 20:29-30). This evil did not appear without warning after his death: the seeds of it are plainly present as he here writes to Timothy. Once Paul and his doctrine are ignored, the door is open for “grievous wolves” to enter in, and for even believers to make themselves leaders by means of twisting the truth in some favorite way. What havoc has this very thing wrought in the Church since that day!

And two men are here specifically named, which seems to indicate they were leaders in this defection from Paul. Phygellus means “a little fugitive”; can it suggest a fearful fleeing from the unpopular stigma of being identified with Paul? And Hermogenes means “lucky born.” Is there an intimation in this of his having no real sense of divine direction in his soul? At least, these things can certainly be factors that loom largely in any turning away from Paul and his doctrine – whether the names themselves signify this, or not. Were these men really believers or not? It is not said and we must leave it there. But how solemn to have their names recorded in this way in the Scriptures, for eternity!

In chapter 2 we read of two men, Hymeneus and Philetus; who had gone further than ignoring the truth: they were undermining the truth (vv. 17, 18). A further advance in evil is seen in the two men mentioned in chapter 3, Jannes and Jambres (v. 8), who resisted the truth by means of imitation. They were the Egyptian magicians in the time of Moses, and Paul speaks of others in the last days having the same character. In chapter 4, Alexander is the ultimate development in this, doing Paul “much evil,” therefore persecuting the truth (v. 14). Another man, Demas, is also mentioned in that chapter, previously, as having “forsaken” Paul because of love for this present world. But it would seem he was a believer, intimidated by the opposition of the enemy, and clinging too much to life in the world. He had been a helper in the work, but as the persecution against the apostle increased, it was too much for him. But it was desertion, at a time the apostle most needed the help of devoted companionship.

How precious a contrast is seen now in this devoted brother Onesiphorus, his name also eternally inscribed in the Word of God! The heart of the apostle is deeply appreciative of the simple faithfulness of this dear man, who evidently had no place of prominence, but a heart devoted to the Lord and to His afflicted servant. It is no great public work he does, but he often refreshed the apostle, and was not ashamed of being identified with one in prison for Christ’s sake. In Rome he sought Paul out, no doubt a difficult matter in so large a city, where prisons would be more than few. One could easily excuse himself from such a task, as being unnecessary: but the apostle (and certainly God also) appreciated the faith that persisted until finding Paul. What an indication that things which may appear small in our eyes are not really so in the estimate of God!

As to his finding “mercy of the Lord in that day,” it is no doubt the day of rewards. And rewards are not strictly that which is deserved: that would be wages. It is because God’s very character is merciful that he gives rewards. Note in Mat 25:28 that though the one servant had gained ten talents for his master, by use of his master’s goods, yet after he brought it to the master, we find that he still had it in his own possession. The master had allowed him to keep it, and in fact gave him more. This is certainly mercy, a reward not really deserved at all. Then is added the many things in which Onesiphorus had previously ministered to Paul. It was not forgotten by him: how much less with God!

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1

The promise of life; of eternal life and salvation.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

2 The Consolations of the Godly in a Day of Ruin

(2 Timothy 1)

The Spirit of God is about to set before us the ruin of the house of God and the increasing failure of the Christian profession throughout the dispensation with its culmination of evil in the last days. Such a terrible picture of the hopeless breakdown of Christendom may well dismay the stoutest heart. The apostle, therefore, before delineating the ruin, seeks to establish our souls and strengthen our confidence in God by setting before us our abiding resources in God. In this first chapter there pass before us the life which is in Christ Jesus (verse 1); the things which God has given to us (verses 6, 7); the testimony of our Lord (verse 8); the salvation and calling of God (verses 9, 10); the day of glory, referred to as that day (verses 12, 18); and the sound words of truth that no error can affect (verse 13).

(V. 1). Paul opens the Epistle by presenting his credentials. He writes with all authority as apostle of Jesus Christ. Good for us then to read the Epistle as bringing a message to us from Jesus Christ by His sent one. Paul’s apostleship is not by the ordination or will of man, but by the will of God. Moreover, Paul was sent by Jesus Christ to serve in this world of death having in view the fulfilment of the promise of life, the life which is seen in all its fulness in Christ Jesus in glory. As so often with the apostle Paul, life is viewed in its fulness in glory, and, in this sense, can be referred to as a promise. No ruin of the church can touch this life that is in Christ Jesus and that belongs to every believer.

(Vv. 2-5). The apostle can address Timothy as his beloved child. What a comfort that in a day of ruin there are those to whom we can unreservedly express our affection, and to whom in all confidence we can unburden our hearts. Two leading characteristics in Timothy drew forth the love and confidence of Paul. Firstly, he was mindful of his tears; secondly, he remembered his unfeigned faith. The tears of Timothy proved that he was a man of spiritual depth and affection who felt the low and broken condition of the Christian profession; his unfeigned faith proved that he was able to rise above all the evil in obedience to, and with confidence in, God.

Timothy may indeed have been of a timid nature and in danger of being overwhelmed by the evil that was coming into the church; as he was marked by tears and faith, the apostle was encouraged to instruct and exhort him, knowing that he had qualities which would enable him to answer to his appeal. Nor is it otherwise today. The instructions of this touching Epistle will find little response unless there are the tears that tell of a tender heart that can mourn over the sorrows of God’s people, and the faith that can take God’s path of separation in the midst of the ruin.

Paul delighted to remember in his prayers this man of tears and faith. What a cheer to any saint, broken hearted by the condition of God’s people, to know that there are devoted and faithful saints by whom he is remembered in prayer. Faithfulness in a day of desertion binds hearts together in the bonds of divine love.

(V. 6). Having expressed his love for and confidence in Timothy, the apostle passes on to exhortation, encouragement and instruction. Firstly, he exhorts him to stir up the gift of God which had been imparted to him for the service of the Lord. In his case it had been bestowed through the apostle. In the presence of difficulties, dangers and general unfaithfulness, when there would appear to be little result from the ministry, there is the danger of thinking it is almost useless to exercise gift. Therefore we need the warning against letting the gift fall into disuse. We are to stir it up; and, in a day of ruin, to be all the more insistent in its use. A little later the apostle can say, Proclaim the word; be urgent in season and out of season (2Ti 4:2).

(V. 7). Having spoken of gifts that are special to the individual, the apostle passes on to remind Timothy of the gift that is common to all believers. To some, God gives a special gift for the ministry of the word; to all His people He gives the spirit of power, and of love, and of wise discretion. It would hardly seem that the reference is to the Holy Spirit, though the gift of the Spirit is implied. It is rather the state and spirit of the believer that is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit and therefore partakes of the character of the Spirit, as the Lord said, That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. By nature Timothy may have been timid and retiring in disposition, but the Holy Spirit does not produce the spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. In the natural man we may find power without love, or love degenerating into mere sentiment. With the Christian, under the control of the Spirit, power is combined with love, and love expressed with a wise discretion.

Thus, however difficult the day, the believer is well equipped with power to do the will of God, to express the love of God, and to exercise a sober judgment in the midst of the ruin.

(V. 8). Having reminded us of the spirit of holy boldness that has been given to us, the apostle can at once say, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner. The testimony of our Lord is the testimony to the glory of Christ set as Man in supreme power after having triumphed over all the power of Satan. Peter was not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, for he boldly testified, saying, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ (Act 2:36). As one has said, After the devil has led man on to do his utmost against Christ, lo, Jesus is crowned with glory and honour after all. Now that surely is victory!

So, in this day, when ruin has come in amongst the people of God, when the triumph of Satan is such that Paul is in prison, the saints have deserted him and evil is increasing, the apostle, though deeply feeling all the failure, is sustained through it all and lifted above it all by the realisation that the Lord Jesus is in the supreme place of power above every influence of Satan. The Lord in glory is his resource. He therefore says, The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me … The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom (2Ti 4:17; 2Ti 4:18).

We rightly speak much of Christ in His earthly pathway, of Christ on the cross, and of Christ coming again, but how rarely we speak of Christ where He is at the present moment in the glory of God, and yet this is the testimony of the Lord – the great testimony that is needed for the moment, the testimony of which we are warned not to be ashamed.

However great the ruin, whatever the failure amongst God’s people, whatever difficulties we may have to meet, whatever the desertion of the saints (2Ti 1:15), the self-will of those who oppose themselves (2Ti 2:25; 2Ti 2:26), or the malice of those who may seek to do us evil (2Ti 4:14), our unfailing resource is to be found in the Lord Jesus at God’s right hand. Looking to Him we shall, like the apostle, be lifted above all the failure whether in ourselves or others. Alas! in our difficulties we may make matters worse by seeking to put them right in our own strength, whereas if we turned to the Lord we should find, even as Paul, that the Lord is with us to strengthen us and to deliver from every evil work.

How necessary then that we should render a clear testimony to the present position of the Lord in the place of supremacy and power as a Man in the glory, in whom is every resource to sustain us in the darkest days.

Moreover, let us beware of being ashamed of those who, in a day of departure, boldly seek to give the Lord His place; and let us be prepared to suffer evil, if need be, in the maintenance of the gospel, knowing that we can count upon the power of God to support us.

(Vv. 9, 10). Having warned us not to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of the one who witnesses to His supreme place as Lord and suffers reproach for his witness, and having encouraged us to share in the afflictions of the gospel, the apostle proceeds to remind us of the greatness of that gospel, which is the power of God to them that are saved and called (1Co 1:18; 1Co 1:24). The realisation of the glory of the Lord and the greatness of the gospel will keep us from being ashamed of the testimony and prepare us to suffer affliction with the gospel.

It becomes clear from these verse that the two great themes of the gospel are salvation and calling. On the one hand the gospel proclaims the way of salvation; on the other hand it presents to us the purpose of God for which we are saved. We are apt to limit the gospel to the important question of our salvation, but so doing we miss the far deeper blessing connected with God’s eternal purpose, and thus fail to enter into the heavenly calling. It is plain that the first great object of the gospel is our salvation, and God would have the believer to be in no uncertainty as to this salvation, as we read in this Scripture, He hath saved us. The blessed effect of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is to set the believer beyond the judgment due to him on account of his sins, and to deliver him from the course of this world. So we read, He gave Himself for our sins, so that He should deliver us out of the present evil world (Gal 1:4). Though for the time we are actually in the world, we are, as set free from its power and influence, morally not of it.

This is the first part of the gospel, and with this the mass of God’s people would seek to be content. Nevertheless, the gospel proclaims far greater blessings, for it tells us of the calling of God. Not only has God saved us, but we read He has called us with an holy calling. In this passage the calling is referred to as an holy calling; it is also spoken of as the heavenly calling (Heb 3:1) and the calling on high (Php 3:14). Salvation sets us free from our sins and the judgment-doomed world: the calling links us with heaven and all those spiritual blessings which God has purposed for us in the heavenlies in Christ. Therefore the blessings of God’s calling are not according to our works, nor our thoughts, nor our deserts, but according to His own purpose and grace.

It is not only that all our debts have been paid, and that we have been delivered from the influence and power of the scene in which the debts were incurred, but we learn to our wonder that according to the purpose of God there are things prepared for those who love Him which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man (1Co 2:9). In the calling of God there is revealed to us the secret of His heart as He unrolls before us a vast vista of heavenly blessing, and assures us that all this blessing was purposed for us in Christ before the foundation of the world. We thus learn that long before we had sinned, or incurred a single liability, God had a settled purpose for our eternal blessing. No evil that we have done, no break down in the church in responsibility, can alter God’s purpose, even as no good that we can do can procure it.

This eternal purpose has now been made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath annulled death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel. By going into death Christ has, for the believer, met the judgment of death that rested upon us, and opened up to us a new scene of life and incorruptibility. Death can no longer prevent the believer entering in to this scene of life and blessedness according to the purpose of God. It is not only that the soul passes from death unto life, but the body will put on incorruption. Thus, by the gospel, there is brought to light a sphere of life and incorruptibility which nevermore can be marred by death or corruption. In the power of the Spirit this new scene can be enjoyed even now.

(V. 11). Furthermore, this gospel in all its fulness has been made known to us by a specially appointed vessel – one who comes to us as apostle of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. It comes therefore on adequate authority through an apostle who speaks by revelation and inspiration.

(V. 12). Moreover, it was because of his faithful testimony that Paul had to suffer. It was no wrongdoing that brought him into suffering and reproach. His zeal as a herald, his devotedness as an apostle sent by Christ, his faithfulness to the church as a teacher, enabled him to say, For which cause I also suffer these things. Imprisonment was only one of these things that this faithful servant had to suffer. There were other sufferings more keenly felt by his sensitive heart, for these things included the desertion of those he loved in Asia and amongst whom he had laboured so long. Then, too, he suffered from the opposition of professors who opposed the truth (2Ti 2:25), from the persecution of evil men (2Ti 3:11-13), and the active malice of individual professors who, like Alexander, did the apostle much evil (2Ti 4:14). Nevertheless, seeing he was suffering for his faithfulness as a servant of Jesus Christ, he can say, I am not ashamed. Further, not only was he not ashamed, but he was not cast down, nor does one word of resentful anger escape his lips because of the unrighteousness of the world, and the desertion, ingratitude, and even opposition, on the part of many Christians. He is lifted above all depression, all resentment and all rancour, inasmuch as he is persuaded that Christ is able to keep that which he has committed unto Him against that day. When Christ was reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously. In the spirit of his Master, Paul, in the presence of suffering, desertion and insults, commits everything into the hands of Christ. His honour, his reputation, his character, his vindication, his happiness, all are committed to Christ, knowing that, though the saints may desert and even oppose him, yet Christ will never fail him. He is persuaded that Christ is able to care for his interests, vindicate his honour and right every wrong in that day.

In the light of that day Paul can pass triumphantly through this day with all its insults, scorn and shame. We may wonder why the devoted apostle was allowed to be deserted and opposed even by the saints; but we shall not wonder in that day when every wrong will be righted, and when all the shame and suffering and reproach will be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. The faithful in this day may indeed be a small and insignificant minority, even as the apostle Paul and the few who were associated with him at the close of his life; nevertheless, in that day it will be found to be far better to have been with the despised few than with the unfaithful mass.

The vanity of the flesh likes to be popular and self-important and make itself prominent before the world and the saints, but in view of that day it is better to take a lowly place in self-effacement rather than a public place in self-advertisement, for then it will be found that many that are first shall be last; and the last first.

We may indeed suffer for our own failure, and this should humble us. Nevertheless, with the example of the apostle before us, we do well to remember that, had we walked in absolute faithfulness, we should have suffered still more, for it ever remains true that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2Ti 3:12). If we are faithful to the light that God has given us, and seek to walk in separation from all that is a denial of the truth, we shall find, in our little measure, that we shall have to face persecution and opposition, and, in its most painful forms, from our fellow-Christians. And well for us, when the trial comes, if we can, like Paul, commit all to the Lord, and wait for His vindication in that day. Too often we are fretful and impatient in the presence of wrongs, and seek to have them righted in this day instead of waiting for that day. If, in the faith of our souls, the glory of that day shines before us, instead of being tempted to rebel at the insults and wrongs that may be allowed, we shall rejoice and be exceeding glad: for, says the Lord, great is your reward in heaven (Mat 5:12).

(Vv. 13, 14). Seeing, then, that this great gospel, with its salvation and calling, comes to Timothy through an inspired source, he is exhorted to have an outline of sound words, which he had heard of the apostle. The truths communicated to Timothy in sound words were to be held by him in an orderly form, or outline, so that he could state clearly and definitely what he did hold. Having this outline, the truths conveyed by the sound words would be seen in right relation to one another. For us this outline is found in the written word, and very especially in the Epistles of Paul. Thus, in the Epistle to the Romans, there is an orderly presentation of the truths concerning our salvation, while his other Epistles give an outline concerning the church, the coming of the Lord, and other truths. In Christendom this outline has been largely lost through the use of isolated texts apart from their context. This outline, as presented in Scripture, is to be jealously guarded. Sincere men may seek to formulate their belief in religious confessions, articles of religion, and theological creeds. Such human expedients, whatever use they may have in their place, ever fall short of the truth and cannot take the place of the inspired outline presented in Scripture.

Moreover, this outline of sound words received from the apostle is to be held, not as a mere creed to which we can give our assent, but in faith and love in Christ Jesus, the living Person of whom the truth speaks. It is not enough to have an outline of sound words. If the truth is to be effectual in our lives it must be held in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. The truth that, when first presented to the soul, is received with joy will lose its freshness unless held in communion with the Lord.

Moreover, if the truth is to be held in communion with Christ, it can only be in the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the whole range of truth contained in the outline of sound words which had been given to Timothy was to be kept by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us.

(V. 15). The immense importance of holding the outline of the truth in communion with Christ by the power of the Spirit is emphasised by the solemn fact that the one by whom the truth had been revealed was deserted by the main body of saints in Asia. The very saints to whom the heavenly calling and the whole range of Christian truth had been revealed had turned from Paul. It is not that these saints had turned from Christ, or given up the gospel of their salvation, but the truth of the heavenly calling unfolded by the apostle had not been held in communion with Christ and in the power of the Spirit. Hence they were not prepared to be associated with him in the outside place of rejection in this world that the full truth of Christianity involves.

It is evident, then, that we cannot trust the most enlightened saints for the maintenance of the truth. It is only as Christ commands the affections in the power of the Spirit that we shall keep that good thing which has been committed unto us.

(Vv. 16-18). The reference to Onesiphorus and his household is very touching. It proves that the indifference and the desertion of the mass did not lead the apostle to overlook the love and kindness of an individual and his family. Indeed, the desertion of the mass made the affection of the few all the more precious. When the great mass grieved the heart of Paul, there was at least one of whom he can say, He oft refreshed me. Others may be ashamed of him, but of this brother he can say that he was not ashamed of my chain. When others deserted him, there was still one of whom he can write, He sought me out very diligently, and found me. When others neglected him he can own with pleasure of this brother that in many things he ministered unto me.

How gratifying it must have been to the heart of the apostle, in the day of his desertion, to realise the sympathy and consolations of Christ finding their expression through this devoted brother. If Paul does not forget this expression of love in the day of his desertion, the Lord will not forget it in that day – the day of the coming glory.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

2Ti 1:1-5

A FAITHFUL SERVANT IS PRAISED

A little introduction to the book might be good as we begin.

The book was written to Timothy by the apostle Paul from Prison around 67 A.D.

I would like to just quote Scofields note for you. Quite different in atmosphere from the first letter to Timothy, it is less formal than the other two Pastoral Epistles and far more personal. In the earlier letter to Timothy, Paul expresses, as though he were a free man, his hope soon to be with his son in the faith. Here in the second letter alone he speaks of the time of his departure being at hand (4:6). Paul was not only in prison, but he had been abandoned by most of his friends (1:15; 4:16).

APPLICATION:

1. I know a few pastors that know this feeling worked their heads off for years and about to croak and everyone leaves them alone and not a friend to share their burdens with.

Years ago we had the privilege of meeting and becoming friends with an old pastor and his wife. He was in his late 70s Id guess he had been through all the battles, he had pastored through the storms and now he was set aside because he was too old to even teach a Sunday School class or so the churches thought.

He was very quiet, withdrawn and didnt have much enthusiasm at all. They had few friends only some family nearby.

Nothing to really excite their lives. To gain some money they had to sell his model T truck that he had wanted to restore for years and now with the time he had no money nor ability to do the work.

HOWEVER, start a conversation about the Bible and he would light up like a Christmas tree and really become involved.

Question: Why do we let our pastors come to that sort of situation? Something for you to ponder how can you remedy this in your own church in the future?

2. Timothy was in Ephesus. He had been charged with setting up church leadership, he had been charged with cleaning out false doctrine, he had been charged with weeding out the false teachers, he had been charged with many things Paul wanted him to assist the church in Ephesus. (1Ti 1:3-4; 1Ti 6:20-21; 2Ti 3:1 ff)

Question: What can we learn from this? Churches need leaders, churches need purity of doctrine, churches need protection, and churches need someone to assist with problems that come and go in an assembly.

So, problems arent new, problems arent strange, problems are to be expected. The key is dealing with them as they come along. This is what the leaders are to be doing.

One might wonder about the horror cases of church splits were the leaders doing their job or were the problems just too large?

It is evident we havent learned much in almost 2000 years of church.

As we move forward in our study remember the apostle is long into a long hard life and he is still plugging away at life at ministry. It is easy to just quite and give up, but it takes strength to continue when you are tired, weary and surrounded by problems and not surrounded by supporters.

2Ti 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, [my] dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, [and] peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from [my] forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

Paul was an apostle by the will of God. I would like to consider this on three levels.

1. God’s sovereignty: God is sovereign in the creation – what He says kind of goes whether the earth, the stars or even man wants it to or not. Nothing happens in the creation without His okay. Man is part of that creation even though we often think we are above creation.

God was the one with the idea for Paul to be an apostle, it was His moving that saved Paul, it was His training that prepared Paul and it was His leading that guided Paul.

2. Man’s free will: Having said all of the above I do not for one instant believe that had Paul said no to God that God would have forced Paul to take on that responsibility.

I’m not saying that Paul’s life would have been a bed of roses walking against God’s will, but he was free to do so. We all are. You might want to review Jonah for a good example of this principle.

3. Man’s response to God: Paul’s response to his call was one of going forward with all the gusto that he could muster. He did the post salvation job just as well and as actively as he had done his pre-salvation work of persecuting the Christians.

What is being said? God has a will for our lives – it is up to us if we follow it. His sovereignty sets that will and we voluntarily follow or reject.

I don’t think Paul woke up one morning to say “Ah, since I am now saved, I think I will be an apostle.” He would never have dreamed of such a thing for himself!

I don’t know all ministers, but I know enough to know that many would never have picked out their life from all the lives available to them at the time that they were called.

I have often wondered just where I would have ended up if God had not placed a call before me. I rather imagine I would still be a country western nut with a big pickup, cowboy boots, a cowboy hat to cover the bald spot and still smoking, cussing and drinking. Well, I didnt have the hat back then didnt need it. A red neck if you will.

God places a call before some that He chooses to use. In my case when I realized what Christ had done for me there was no real option but to answer the call – He did so much for me, how could I not want to do as much as I could for Him.

Relating to Pauls apostleship, one might be interested in a couple of passages that mention the requirements to be an apostle. I might mention that Paul was a special case, and since Christ appointed him directly does not necessarily need to be bound to these requirements.

Both of the following texts mention the resurrection and many people state that this is the qualification. Both however mention also witnessing his life in some manner as well as the death and burial.

Act 1:21 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. Personally the last phrase isnt a requirement to be an apostle but a job description.

1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

The qualification might be seen in my mind as one that had witnessed the life of the Savior and then known personally of the events surrounding his resurrection. This did not automatically make one an apostle, but made one available as a possible person to become an apostle. In short a good knowledge of Christs work on earth and the ability to witness to that knowledge to the world would be the requirement in my mind.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, {a} according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

(a) Sent of God to preach that life which he promised in Christ Jesus.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

I. SALUTATION 1:1-2

As usual, Paul wrote what he did in his salutation partially to set the tone for his emphasis in the rest of the epistle. There are only three particulars in which this salutation differs from the one in 1 Timothy.

First, Paul attributed his calling as an apostle to "the will of God" (2Ti 1:1) rather than to the command of God. The wording here is what Paul used in several of his other epistles (1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians). The two terms are very similar in meaning. When friends desert us and opposition becomes intense there is nothing that gives Christians confidence like the assurance that we are doing God’s will.

Second, the apostle said his calling as an apostle was "according to" (i.e., "because of," or "in harmony with," or both) "the promise of life in Christ Jesus" (2Ti 1:1). This promise is part of the gospel message, and here the phrase probably refers to the gospel as a whole (cf. 2Ti 1:9-11).

". . . Paul in his circumstances probably thinks of ’life’ (eternal) as something yet to be fully obtained-thus the reference to a promise (compare 1Ti 6:19)." [Note: Philip H. Towner, 1-2 Timothy & Titus, p. 155.]

In this epistle Paul emphasized the importance of faithfulness: God’s faithfulness, Paul’s faithfulness, Timothy’s need to remain faithful, and the faithfulness or unfaithfulness of Paul’s fellow workers and other servants of Christ. Paul was counting on God being faithful and providing what He had promised, namely, eternal life in Christ. God had called him to proclaim this promise as an apostle.

Third, Paul referred to Timothy as his "beloved son" (2Ti 1:2). This description emphasized the affection Paul felt for Timothy and his relationship to him as a spiritual son and protégé whom he had nurtured in the faith. Paul mentioned Timothy in all 13 of his inspired epistles except Galatians, Ephesians, and Titus.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

, 2Ti 1:1, Tit 1:1

Chapter 1

Introductory

THE CHARACTER AND GENUINENESS OF THE PASTORAL EPISTLES.- 1Ti 1:1; 2Ti 1:1; Tit 1:1

THE first question which confronts us on entering upon the study of the Pastoral Epistles is that of their authenticity, which of late has been confidently denied. In reading them are we reading the farewell words of the great Apostle to the ministers of Christ? Or are we reading only the well-meant but far less weighty counsels of one who in a later age assumed the name and imitated the style of St. Paul? It seems necessary to devote the first of these expositions to a discussion of this question.

The title “Pastoral Epistles” could hardly be improved, but it might easily be misunderstood as implying more than is actually the case. It calls attention to what is the most conspicuous, but by no means the only characteristic in these Epistles. Although the words which most directly signify the pastors office, such as “shepherd,” “feed,” “tend,” and “flock,” do not occur in these letters and do occur elsewhere in Scripture, yet in no other books in the Bible do we find so many directions respecting the pastoral care of Churches. The title is much less appropriate to 2 Timothy than to the other two Epistles. All three are both pastoral and personal; but while 1 Timothy and Titus are mainly the former, 2 Timothy is mainly the latter. The three taken together stand between the other Epistles of St. Paul and the one to Philemon. Like the latter, they are personal; like the rest, they treat of large questions of Church doctrine, practice, and government, rather than of private and personal matters. Like that to Philemon, they are addressed, not to Churches, but to individuals; yet they are written to them, not as private friends, but as delegates, though not mere delegates, of the Apostle, and as officers of the Church. Moreover, the important Church matters of which they treat are regarded not as in the other Epistles, from the point of view of the congregation or of the Church at large, but rather from that of the overseer or minister. And, as being official rather than private letters, they are evidently intended to be read by other persons besides Timothy and Titus.

Among the Epistles which bear the name of St. Paul none have excited so much controversy as these, especially as regards their genuineness. But the controversy is entirely a modern one. It is little or no exaggeration to say that from the first century to the nineteenth no one ever denied or doubted that they were written by St. Paul. It is true that certain heretics of the second century rejected some or all of them. Marcion, and perhaps Basilides, rejected all three. Tatian, while maintaining the Apostolicity of the Epistle to Titus, repudiated those to Timothy. And Origen tills us that some people doubted about 2 Timothy because it contained the name of Jannes and Jambres, which do not occur in the Old Testament. But it is well known that Marcion, in framing his mutilated and meager canon of the Scriptures, did not profess to do so on critical grounds. He rejected everything except an expurgated edition of St. Luke and certain Epistles of St. Paul, -not because he doubted their authenticity, but because he disliked their contents. They did not fit into his system. And the few others who rejected one or more of these Epistles did so in a similar spirit. They did not profess to find that these documents were not properly authenticated, but they were displeased with passages in them. The evidence, therefore, justifies us in asserting that, with some very slight exception in the second century, these three Epistles were, until quite recent times, universally accepted as written by St. Paul.

This large fact is greatly emphasized by two considerations.

(1) The repudiation of them by Marcion and others directed attention to them. They were evidently not accepted by an oversight, because no one thought anything about them.

(2) The evidence respecting the general acceptance of them as St. Pauls is full and positive, and reaches back to the earliest times. It does not consist merely or mainly in the absence of evidence to the contrary. Tertullian wonders what can have induced Marcion, while accepting the Epistle to Philemon, to reject those to Timothy and Titus: and of course those who repudiated them would have pointed out weak places in their claim to be canonical if such had existed. And even if we do not insist upon the passages in which these Epistles are almost certainly quoted by Clement of Rome (cir. A.D. 95), Ignatius of Antioch (cir. A.D. 112), Polycarp of Smyrna (cir. A.D. 112), and Theophilus of Antioch (cir. A.D. 180), we have direct evidence of a very convincing kind. They are found in the Peshitto, or early Syriac Version, which was made in the second century. They are contained in the Muratorian canon, the date of which may still be placed as not later than A.D. 170. Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp, states that “Paul mentions Linus in the Epistle to Timothy,” and he quotes Tit 3:10 with the introduction “as Paul also says.” Eusebius renders it probable that both Justin Martyr and Hegesippus quoted from 1 Timothy; and he himself places all three Epistles among the universally accepted books, and not among the disputable writings: i.e., he places them with the Gospels, Acts, 1 Peter, 1 John, and the other Epistles of St. Paul, and not with James, 2Pe 2:1-22 and 3 John, and Jude. In this arrangement he is preceded by Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian, both of whom quote frequently from all three Epistles, sometimes as the words of Scripture, sometimes as of “the Apostle,” sometimes as of Paul, sometimes as of the Spirit. Occasionally it is expressly stated that the words quoted are addressed to Timothy or to Titus.

It would take us too far a field to examine in detail the various considerations which have induced some eminent critics to set aside this strong array of external evidence and reject one or more of these Epistles. They fall in the main under four heads.

(1) The difficulty of finding a place for these letters in the life of St. Paul as given us in the Acts and in his own writings.

(2) The large amount of peculiar phraseology not found in any other Pauline Epistles.

(3) The Church organization indicated in these letters, which is alleged to be of a later date than St. Pauls time.

(4) The erroneous doctrines and practices attacked, which are also said to be those of a later age.

To most of these points we shall have to return on some future occasion: but for the present this much may be asserted with confidence.

(1) In the Acts and in the other Epistles of St. Paul the Apostles life is left incomplete. There is nothing to forbid us from supposing that the remaining portion amounted to several years, during which these three letters were written. The second Epistle to Timothy in any case has the unique interest of being the last extant utterance of the Apostle St. Paul.

(2) The phraseology which is peculiar to each of these Epistles is not greater in amount than the phraseology which is peculiar to the Epistle to the Galatians, which even Baur admits to be of unquestionable genuineness. The peculiar diction which is common to all three Epistles is well accounted for by the peculiarity of the common subject, and by the fact that these letters are separated by several years from even the latest among the other writings of St. Paul.

(3, 4) There is good reason for believing that during the lifetime of St. Paul the organization of the Church corresponded to that which is sketched in these letters, and that errors were already in existence such as these letters denounce.

Although the controversy is by no means over, two results of it are very generally accepted as practically certain.

I. The three Epistles must stand or fall together. It is impossible to accept two, or one, or any portion of one of them, and reject the rest. They must stand or fall with the hypothesis of St. Pauls second imprisonment. If the Apostle was imprisoned at Rome only once, and was put to death at the end of that imprisonment, then these three letters were not written by him.

(1) The Epistles stand or fall together: they are all three genuine, or all three spurious. We must either with the scholars of the Early Church, of the Middle Ages, and of the Renaissance, whether Roman or Protestant, and with a clear majority of modern critics, accept all three letters; or else with Marcion, Basilides, Eichhorn, Bauer, and their followers, reject all three. As Credner himself had to acknowledge, after having at first advocated the theory, it is impossible to follow Tatian in retaining Titus as apostolic, while repudiating the other two as forgeries. Nor have the two scholars who originated the modern controversy found more than one critic of eminence to accept their conclusion that both Titus and 2 Timothy, are genuine, but 1 Timothy not. Yet another suggestion is made by Reuss, that 2 Timothy is unquestionably genuine, while the other two are doubtful. And lastly we have Pfleiderer admitting that 2 Timothy contains at least two sections which have with good reason been recognized as genuine, {2Ti 1:15-18; 2Ti 4:9-21} and Renan asking whether the forger of these three Epistles did not possess some authentic letters of St. Paul which he has enshrined in his composition.

It will be seen, therefore, that those who impugn the authenticity of the Pastoral Epistles are by no means agreed among themselves. The evidence in some places is so strong, that many of the objectors are compelled to admit that the Epistles are at least in part the work of St. Paul. That is, certain portions, which admit of being severely tested, are found to stand the test, and are passed as genuine, in spite of surrounding difficulties. The rest, which does not admit of such testing, is repudiated on account of the difficulties. No one can reasonably object to the application of whatever tests are available, nor to the demand for explanations of difficulties. But we must not treat what cannot be satisfactorily tested as if it had been tested and found wanting; nor must we refuse to take account of the support which those parts which can be thoroughly sifted lend to those for which no decisive criterion can be found. Still less must we proceed on the assumption that to reject these Epistles or any portion of them is a proceeding which gets rid of difficulties. It is merely an exchange of one set of difficulties for another. To unbiased minds it will perhaps appear that the difficulties involved in the assumption that the Pastoral Epistles are wholly or partly a forgery, are not less serious than those which have been urged against the well-established tradition of their genuineness. The very strong external evidence in their favor has to be accounted for. It is already full, clear, and decided, as soon as we could at all expect to find it, viz., in Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian. And it must be noticed that these witnesses give us the traditional beliefs of several chief centers in Christendom. Irenaeus speaks with full knowledge of what was accepted in Asia Minor, Rome, and Gaul; Clement witnesses for Egypt, and Tertullian for North America. And although the absence of such support would not have caused serious perplexity, their direct evidence is very materially supported by passages closely parallel to the words of the Pastoral Epistles found in writers still earlier than Irenaeus. Renan admits the relationship between 2 Timothy and the Epistle of Clement of Rome, and suggests that each writer has borrowed from a common source. Pfleiderer admits that the Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp “displays striking points of contact with 2 Timothy.” Bauers theory, that all three letters are as late as A.D. 150, and are an attack on Marcion, finds little support now. But we are still asked to believe that 2 Timothy was forged in the reign of Trajan (98-117) and the other two Epistles in the reign of Hadrian (117-138). Is it credible that a forgery perpetrated A.D. 120-135 would in less than fifty years be accepted in Asia Minor, Rome, Gaul, Egypt, and North Africa, as a genuine letter of the Apostle St. Paul? And yet this is what must have happened in the case of 1 Timothy, if the hypothesis just stated is correct. Nor is this all: Marcion, as we know, rejected all three of the Pastoral Epistles; and Tertullian cannot think why Marcion should do so. But, when Marcion was framing his canon, about the reign of Hadrian, 2 Timothy, according to these dates, would be scarcely twenty years old, and 1 Timothy would be brand-new. If this had been so, would Marceon, with his intimate knowledge of St. Pauls writings, have been in ignorance of the fact; and if he had known it, would he have failed to denounce the forgery? Or again, if we assume that he merely treated this group of Epistles with silent contempt, would not his rejection of them, which was well known, have directed attention to them, and caused their recent origin to be quickly discovered? From all which it is manifest that the theory of forgery by no means frees us from grave obstacles.

It will be observed that the external evidence is large in amount and overwhelmingly in favor of the Apostolic authorship. The objections are based on internal evidence. But some of the leading opponents admit that even the internal evidence is in favor of certain portions of the Epistles. Let us, then, with Renan, Pfleiderer, and others admit that parts of 2 Timothy were written by St. Paul; then there is strong presumption that the whole letter is by him; for even the suspected portions have the external evidence in their favor, together with the support lent to them by those parts for which the internal evidence is also satisfactory. Add to which the improbability that any one would store up genuine letters of St. Paul for fifty years and then use parts of them to give substance to a fabrication. Or let us with Reuss contend that in 2 Timothy “the whole Epistle is so completely the natural expression of the actual situation of the author, and contains, unsought and for the most part in the form of mere allusions, such a mass of minute and unessential particulars, that, even did the name of the writer not chance to be mentioned at the beginning, it would be easy to discover it.” Then there is strong presumption that the other two letters are genuine also; for they have the external evidence on their side, together with the good character reflected upon them by their brother Epistle. This result is of course greatly strengthened, if, quite independently of 2 Timothy, the claims of Titus to be Apostolic are considered to be adequate. With two of the three letters admitted to be genuine, the case for the remaining letter becomes a strong one. It has the powerful external evidence on its side, backed up by the support lent to it by its two more manifestly authentic companions. Thus far, therefore, we may agree with Baur: “The three Epistles are so much alike that none of them can be separated from the others; and from this circumstance the identity of their authorship may be confidently inferred.” But when he asserts that whichever of this family of letters be examined will appear as the betrayer of his brethren, he just reverses the truth. Each letter, upon examination, lends support to the other two; “and a threefold cord is not easily broken.” The strongest member of the family is 2 Timothy: the external evidence in its favor is ample, and no Epistle in the New Testament is more characteristic of St. Paul. It would be scarcely less reasonable to dispute 2 Corinthians. And if 2 Timothy be admitted, there is no tenable ground for excluding the other two.

II. But not only do the three Epistles stand or fall together, they stand or fall with the hypothesis of the release and second imprisonment of the Apostle. The contention that no place can be found for the Pastoral Epistles in the narrative of the Acts is valid; but it is no objection to the authenticity of the Epistles. The conclusion of the Acts implies that the end of St. Pauls life is not reached in the narrative. “He abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling,” implies that after that time a change took place. If that change was his death, how unnatural not to mention it! The conclusion is closely parallel to that of St. Lukes Gospel; and we might almost as reasonably contend that “they were continually in the temple,” proves that they were never “clothed with power from on high,” because they were told to “tarry in the city” until they were so clothed, as contend that “abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling,” proves that at the end of the two years came the end of St. Pauls life. Let us grant that the conclusion of the Acts is unexpectedly abrupt, and that this abruptness constitutes a difficulty. Then we have our choice of two alternatives. Either the two years of imprisonment were followed by a period of renewed labor, or they were cut short by the Apostles martyrdom. Is it not more easy to believe that the writer did not consider that this new period of work, which would have filled many chapters, fell within the scope of his narrative, than that he omitted so obvious a conclusion as St. Pauls death, for which a single verse would have sufficed? But let us admit that to assert that St. Paul was released at the end of two years is to maintain a mere hypothesis: yet to assert that he was not released is equally to maintain a mere hypothesis. If we exclude the Pastoral Epistles, Scripture gives no means of deciding the question, and whichever alternative we adopt we are making a conjecture. But which hypothesis has most evidence on its side? Certainly the hypothesis of the release.

(1) The Pastoral Epistles, even if not by St. Paul, are by some one who believed that the Apostle did a good deal after the close of the Acts.

(2) The famous passage in Clement of Rome (Corinthians 5.) tells that St. Paul “won the noble renown which was the reward of his faith, having taught righteousness unto the whole world, and having reached the furthest bound of the West ( ).” This probably means Spain; and if St. Paul ever went to Spain as he hoped to do, {Rom 15:24; Rom 15:28} it was after the imprisonment narrated in the Acts. Clement gives us the tradition in Rome (cir. A.D. 95).

(3) The Muratorian fragment (cir. A.D. 170) mentions the “departure of Paul from the city to Spain.”

(4) Eusebius (“H.E.,” II 22:2) says that at the end of the two years of imprisonment, according to tradition, the Apostle went forth again upon the ministry of preaching, and on a second visit to the city ended his career by martyrdom under Nero; and that during this imprisonment he composed the Second Epistle to Timothy. All this does not amount to proof; but it raises the hypothesis of the release to a high degree of probability. Nothing of this kind can be urged in favor of the counter-hypothesis.

To urge the improbability that the labors of these last few years of St. Pauls life would be left unrecorded is no argument.

(1) They are partly recorded in the Pastoral Epistles.

(2) The entire labors of most of the Twelve are left unrecorded. Even of St. Pauls life, whole years are left a blank. How fragmentary the narrative in the Acts must be is proved by the autobiography in 2 Corinthians.

That we have very scanty notice of St. Pauls doings between the two imprisonments does not render the existence of such an interval at all doubtful.

The result of this preliminary discussion seems to show that the objections which have been urged against these Epistles are not such as to compel us to doubt that in studying them we are studying the last writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles. If any doubts still survive, a closer examination of the details will, it is hoped, tend to remove rather than to strengthen them. When we have completed our survey, we may be able to add our testimony to those who through many centuries have found these writings a source of Divine guidance, warning, and encouragement, especially in ministerial work. The experience of countless numbers of pastors attests the wisdom of the Church, or in other words the good Providence of God, in causing these Epistles to be included among the sacred Scriptures.

“It is an established fact,” as Bernhard Weiss rightly points out (“Introduction to the New Testament,” vol. 1. p. 410), “that the essential, fundamental features of the Pauline doctrine of salvation are even in their specific expression reproduced in our Epistles with a clearness such as we do not find in any Pauline disciple, excepting perhaps Luke or the Roman Clement.” Whoever composed them had at his command, not only St. Pauls forms of doctrine and expression, but large funds of Apostolic zeal and discretion, such as have proved capable of warming the hearts and guiding the judgments of a long line of successors. Those who are conscious of these effects upon themselves will probably find it easier to believe that they have derived these benefits from the great Apostle himself, rather than from one who, with however good intentions, assumed his name and disguised himself in his mantle. Henceforward, until we find serious reason for doubt, it will be assumed that in these Epistles we have the farewell counsels of none other than St. Paul.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary