Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Timothy 2:21

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these — He that takes heed to his ways and to his doctrines, and walks with God, will separate himself, not only from all false doctrine, but from all wicked men, and thus be sanctified and proper to be employed by the Master in every good word and work. The apostle has not made the application of these different similes, and it is very difficult to tell what he means.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

2:14-4:5 AN APPROVED WORKER AND FALSE TEACHERS

Teach essentials; avoid quarrels (2:14-26)

Paul repeats the advice of his previous letter that Timothy should not waste time discussing fanciful theories (cf. 1 Timothy 1:3-11; 1 Timothy 4:6-10). Christian teachers build up their hearers by presenting the truth of God clearly and honestly, not by allowing the imagination to control their preaching (14-16).

Foolish speculation and self-invented theories were what caused Hymenaeus and Philetus to depart from the faith. They denied the future resurrection of the body, apparently by asserting that the resurrection was the spiritual awakening experienced at conversion (17-18; cf. 1 Timothy 1:19-20). But false teaching does not shake the firm foundation of God’s truth. God protects those who belong to him, though they on their part must turn away from wrongdoing (19).

The presence of good and bad in the visible church is compared to the presence of many types of articles in a large house. Some articles are precious, but others are of little value and are unfit for honourable use (20). If believers are to be clean and fit for God’s use, they must avoid sinful desires and foolish arguments, and seek instead the company of those who strive for the truly Christian virtues (21-23). By wise and patient instruction, the servants of God may be able to release wrongdoers from Satan’s grip and lead them into the freedom that comes from knowing God’s truth (24-26).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work.

If a man purge himself from these … The way this stands it seems to say, "if one purge himself from the vessels unto dishonor," but that is evidently not the meaning.

The image is better maintained if we understand "from these" to mean the babblings, and ungodliness, and eating words of the heretics denounced. Ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour - If a man “cleanse” or “purify” himself; compare the notes on John 15:2. The word “these” refers, here, to the persons represented by the vessels of wood and of earth - the vessels made to dishonor, as mentioned in the previous verse 2 Timothy 2:20. The idea is, that if one would preserve himself from the corrupting influence of such men, he would be fitted to be a vessel of honor, or to be employed in the most useful and honorable service in the cause of his Master. On the word “vessel,” see the notes at Acts 9:15.

And meet for the master’s use - Suitable to be employed by the Lord Jesus in promoting his work on earth.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

21If any man shall cleanse himself from these If the reprobate are “vessels for dishonor,” they have that dishonor confined to themselves, but they do not disfigure the house, or bring any disgrace on the head of the family, who, while he has a variety of articles of furniture, appropriates each vessel to its proper use. But let us learn, by their example, to apply them to better and worthier uses; for in the reprobate, as in mirrors, we perceive how detestable is the condition of man, if he do not sincerely promote the glory of God. Such examples, therefore, afford to us good ground for exhortation to devote ourselves to a holy and blameless life.

There are many who misapply this passage, for the sake of proving that what Paul elsewhere (Romans 9:16) declares to belong “to God that sheweth mercy,” is actually within the power of “him that willeth and him that runneth.” This is exceedingly frivolous; for Paul does not here argue about the election of men, in order to shew what is the cause of it, as he does in the ninth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 9:0); but only means that we are unlike wicked men, whom we perceive to have been born to their perdition. It is consequently foolish to draw an inference from these words, about the question whether it is in a man’s power to place himself in the number of the children of God, and to be the author of his own adoption. That is not the present question. Let this short warning suffice against those who bid a man cause himself to be predestinated; as if Paul enjoined men to do what they must have done before they were born, and even before the foundations of the world were laid.

Others, who infer from these words that free-will is sufficient for preparing a man, that he may be fit and qualified for obeying God, do not at first sight appear to be so absurd as the former, yet there is no solidity in what they advance. The Apostle enjoins that men who desire to consecrate themselves to the Lord cleanse themselves from the pollution of wicked men; and throughout the Scriptures God gives the same injunction; for we find nothing here but what we have seen in many passages of Paul’s writings, and especially in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians,

“Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” ⁽¹⁷⁸⁾

Beyond all controversy, we are called to holiness. But the question about the calling and duty of Christians is totally different from the question about their power or ability. We do not deny that it is demanded from believers that they purify themselves; but elsewhere the Lord declares that this is their duty, while he promises by Ezekiel that he will send

“clean waters, that we may be cleansed.” (Ezekiel 36:25.)

Wherefore we ought to supplicate the Lord to cleanse us, instead of vainly trying our strength in this matter without his assistance.

A vessel sanctified for honor means, set apart for honorable and magnificent purposes. In like manner, what is useful to the head of the family is put for that which is applied to agreeable purposes. He afterwards explains the metaphor, when he adds, that we must be prepared for every good work. Away with the wild language of fanatics, “I will contribute to the glory of God, as Pharaoh did; for is it not all one, provided that God be glorified?” For here God explicitly states in what manner he wishes us to serve him, that is, by a religious and holy life.

(178) This quotation is taken from Isaiah 52:11, but the passage to which our author, quoting from memory, makes reference, is 2 Corinthians 6:17, where the words of Isaiah have undergone considerable variation See Calvin’s Com. On Corinthians, vol. 2, p. 261. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 2

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace ( 2 Timothy 2:1 )

You see, it is legalism that is threatening the church. This idea that you can work yourself into divine favor. So "be strong in the grace"

that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also ( 2 Timothy 2:1-2 ).

And so this is how the Gospel is spread. As Paul said, Now you remember the things that I said and I was teaching among many of the brethren. Now you take these same things and commit them to faithful brethren who will be able to teach others, the discipling of men in the truths of God, investing your lives in others. As we have grown older we've sought to invest our lives into younger ministers, sharing with them, spending time with them, teaching them, committing to them the Word of God, in order that they might then go out and give the same thing to faithful men, who will then be able to go out and teach others.

When we started our ministry here at Calvary Chapel, we met with a group of men and many times their wives five nights a week. For two years, the first two years, five nights a week we gathered together entrusting to these men the teaching of the Word of God, studying several books, going through the entire Bible with them. After two years with these men, I said, All right, the time has come; you fellows start teaching your own home Bible studies. And so they started teaching their Bible studies in their homes. I would every week get calls from them when they were going to have a Bible study that night; they'd have a list of questions that they'd go over before they went to their Bible study, they had their Bible studies in their homes.

After two years many people who were saved in their Bible studies then started their own home Bible studies. And it was passed on and on and on from spiritual generation to spiritual generation. People who were saved in a Bible study began to teach a Bible study in which men were saved, who went out and later on began to teach their own Bible studies, and so it goes on and on. It is, as it is passed, you teach faithful men who are able then to teach others. You disciple others so that they in turn can disciple others. And so the progression goes.

Paul said,

Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ ( 2 Timothy 2:3 ).

We're in a real battle, a tough battle. It's a battle of the eternal destiny of human soul. It's a fierce battle. The enemy is relentless. He attacks night and day. He never eases. The pressure is great. "Endure hardness," Paul said, "as a good soldier". Hang in there.

And no man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life ( 2 Timothy 2:4 );

And that's our problem so often. As Jesus said, "In the last days, be careful lest you at any time be overcharged with gluttony, surfeiting, or with drunkenness, or the cares of this life so that the day of the coming of the Lord will catch you by surprise" ( Luke 21:34 ). Catch you unaware. Jesus in talking about how that the thorns grew up with the wheat. Identifying the thorns, He said the desire for riches, the cares of this life and the desires of other things choke out the fruitfulness of the Gospel within their life. So the cares of this life can choke out the fruitfulness. No man who is in war, no man who has signed up for the army gets all involved in the little mundane things of life. Hey, I'm in a battle and I can't get bogged down with the cares of this life.

My desire is that I might

please him who has chosen me to be his soldier ( 2 Timothy 2:4 ).

You see, I have made a commitment unto the commanding general that I will serve, that I would go into battle, that I am on-call. Anytime he can give an order for me to move out, must be ready to go. I want to please Him who has called me to be His soldier. That's the whole desire of my life, to please God who has called me into this warfare.

Also if any man strive for the masteries ( 2 Timothy 2:5 ),

Now Paul was referring here to the Olympics and the wrestling competition within the Olympics. And the wrestling competition in those days was called striving for the masteries, striving to master over another one. Throw him out of the ring. Pin him on his back. He who "strives for the masteries,"

is not crowned, unless he strive lawfully ( 2 Timothy 2:5 ).

You see, the referee can blow the whistle on you and say, Hey, hey, that was not right, you know, you hit him after I called "Break." You're not crowned unless you strive lawfully. There are the rules by which you must wrestle.

The husbandman that laboureth ( 2 Timothy 2:6 )

The man who is out there in the field laboring gets the first fruit of harvest. You are able to eat while you are in the field working, picking the fruit. You could eat the fruit.

He's the

first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say; and may the Lord give you understanding in all of these things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel ( 2 Timothy 2:6-8 ):

This is the heart of the Gospel, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Don't forget that. Remember the resurrection, without that we have no gospel. And so he's encouraging him to come back to the heart of the Gospel. And you find that everywhere they went the center message, the thing that made Christianity different from Buddhism or Confucianism or any other religious system is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So he's reminding him of that unique difference in Christianity.

Wherein [he said] I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto these bonds [these chains]; but [thank God] the word of God isn't bound ( 2 Timothy 2:9 ).

They can bind me, they can bind my arms to the soldier next to me, to this guard, but they can't bind the word of God.

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 ( 2 Timothy 2:10 ).

So I endure these things because God has elected certain people to be saved. And if by my sacrifice, by my commitment, I can bring them the knowledge of Jesus Christ, great. My desire is to see the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, that they might share the eternal glory of a child of God. So in another place he said, "I know that the present suffering isn't worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed when Christ comes" ( Romans 8:18 ).

Oh yeah, it's hard now. Yeah, it's tough. Yeah, it's not easy. There's suffering, but it can't be compared with the glory, the eternal glory. So he said, Our light affliction. Light affliction, Paul? You see, you say once you were stoned, three times you were beaten with rods, three times you received thirty-nine stripes, you were shipwrecked, you were beat up, you were imprisoned, how many times? Light affliction, Paul? "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh an exceeding eternal weight of glory" ( 2 Corinthians 4:17 ). Interesting contrast: light affliction for a moment, eternal weight of glory. So endure hardness as a good soldier. Don't get all entangled in worldly things. Seek to please the One who has called you to be a good soldier.

It's a faithful saying [it's a true saying]: If we be dead with him, we shall also live with him ( 2 Timothy 2:11 ):

They're going to take my life pretty soon, but that is this physical life, but I'm going to be living with Him.

If we suffer, we shall also reign: if we deny, he also will deny: If we believe not, he abides faithful: he cannot abide deny himself ( 2 Timothy 2:12-13 ).

There are some people who say rather pompously, Well I just don't believe in Jesus Christ. So what? You see, your believing or not believing doesn't alter the facts one iota. You may deny Him but He can't deny Himself. That would be impossible to deny your own existence. So your saying I don't believe that Jesus was the Son of God is like saying, I don't believe that two and two equals four. I just look at you and think you're a little nuts, but that's all right, you have your right to be but you don't change the facts. Your believing or not believing doesn't alter the fact at all.

The fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He did die for our sins, is a fact that remains whether you believe it or not. You see, your believing or not doesn't affect Him at all. It does affect you seriously and for eternity. And so it is rather ridiculous to say, Well I don't believe, and to think that it doesn't exist just because you don't believe it. You can deny the truth but He can't deny it. He can't deny Himself, what He is and what He has done. So if we don't believe, it's still true. He can't deny Himself.

So,

Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, all they do is subvert the hearers ( 2 Timothy 2:14 ).

There are those that get all involved in words and in little concepts and twists, and all, of a scripture, and they are really totally unprofitable. Do you know that the church was divided once over an argument on how many angels could stand on a head of a pin? People used to argue over that. And people have all these concepts. Oh, it's stupid. That's not going to help anybody. And you look at a lot of these things that people bring up and a lot of divisions that are created. How were you baptized, brother? You know, and they well, you weren't really baptized then. And, You better be baptized the right way. You were baptized backwards? Oh no, that face down, man. That's the only way. And they get in these silly, little things and all, and all it does is subvert people, subvert the hearers.

Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that doesn't need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth ( 2 Timothy 2:15 ).

This particular scripture was the inspiration to Scoffield in setting out the dispensations in the Scoffield Bible, rightly dividing the word of truth. I think he went a little far with it. But it's interesting that this is the verse that inspired him to make the divisions, especially within the Scoffield Bible as he shows you the dispensation of innocence, the dispensation of government, the dispensation of law, the dispensation of grace, and the dispensation of the future reign of Christ. The dispensations, rightly dividing. But it is important that we rightly divide the word of truth. Study. It's important that we study.

But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness ( 2 Timothy 2:16 ).

There are those who turn the grace of God into a cloak to cover their own lasciviousness. Well, if God is so ready to forgive and so full of grace, it really doesn't matter if we do it because we can just ask Him immediately to forgive us then, and it would, He's graceful and it's all over. So let's go ahead and do it and then we'll seek the grace of God to forgive us. No, these kinds of vain and profane babblings only increase ungodliness.

Paul himself said, Shall we go out and sin freely then that grace may abound? Perish the thought! How can we who are dead to sin live any longer therein? The grace of God is not an excuse or a cloak or a reason to go out and just to live recklessly saying, well, the grace of God will cover me. Profane, vain babbling, be careful of it.

Their words will eat like a canker worm: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus ( 2 Timothy 2:17 );

I mean, Paul doesn't mind naming these fellows, does he? Paul, shame on you. I'm going to write you a letter.

Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and they overthrow the faith of some ( 2 Timothy 2:18 ).

Now the Jehovah Witnesses say the resurrection is already past and Jesus came again in 1914; didn't you know? Oh, but I thought every eye was going to see Him. Oh no, only those with spiritual eyes. Those who were living in the headquarters in, they saw Him, in New York spiritually, with spiritual eyes. And He set up His reign in a secret chamber and He is ruling now from this secret chamber through these men in New York. But we're in the Kingdom Age. Satan is bound. Glory to God.

Hey, if this is the Kingdom Age, I'm greatly disappointed. I was hoping for much better than this. I wish the Lord had not put such a long chain on him. He still has enough rope to give me a bad time. "Who have erred concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place and they subvert the faith of many people." They're turning a lot of people away to this weird little doctrine of theirs, drawing a lot of people after this.

Nevertheless the foundation of God stands, it stands sure, it has this seal, The Lord knows those that are his ( 2 Timothy 2:19 ).

"The Lord knows those that are His."

And, Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity ( 2 Timothy 2:19 ).

If you take the name of Christian, if you take the name of Christ, then depart from iniquity. The Lord knows those who are His.

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth [clay]; some to honour, some to dishonour ( 2 Timothy 2:20 ).

Paul here refers to the church as a great house. Jesus in the kingdom parables indicated that the church was going to become something God didn't intend it to be. Those seven parables in Matthew's gospel, twelfth and thirteenth chapter, that deal with the Kingdom Age, talking about the church.

It's like unto a mustard seed that's very small, but it was planted and it grew up into a great tree. Wait a minute. Mustard, you know they don't really have mustard trees, they have mustard bushes. If you've got a tree, you've got to have normal growth. And the birds or the fowls of the air came and lodged in it. The birds in the Scripture are always used in an evil sense. You remember the parable of the seed that fell by the wayside and the birds came and plucked it up. Now the birds were Satan who plucked the Word out that it couldn't take root. What's He saying, Satan's going to lodge in the branches of the church? Oh yes, he has found lodging within the branches of the church.

There is more junk that comes out of the World Council of Churches proclamations and the National Council of Churches proclamations than you can believe. "Concerning Hymenaeus and Philetus who have erred concerning the truth." Corrupt men of corrupt minds putting on a clerical garb, taking the title of Reverend and espousing every rotten cause that comes along, every damning issue that would demoralize and destroy our society, and these men are ready to take it up and champion it. And they're ready to fight against anything that is good.

A group of ministers filed a suit against President Reagan for proclaiming the Year of the Bible in 1983. Hey, wearing a backward collar doesn't make a minister out of anybody, only God ordains. A lot of men have the title of Reverend. I would fear anybody taking that title. Sometimes people call me Reverend Smith and I cringe. They write that on the book on the letters and I cringe, I know that they don't know me when I get these letters, Reverend Charles Smith or the Reverend Charles Smith or the Most Reverend Charles Smith. I know, hey, they don't know me cause I don't consider myself Reverend at all. There's nothing reverend about Chuck Smith. The Bible says we are to reverence God's holy name. That I do. But I don't want anybody reverencing my name or me. God help me. I'm a sinner just like you. I need the grace of God just like you.

"In a great house, though, many vessels, some gold, some silver; some wood, some clay. Some for honor, some for dishonor." Kingdom of heaven is like a woman hiding leaven in three measures of meal until it permeates the whole lump. Leaven is always used in an evil sense in the Scriptures, the leaven of sin, the leaven of hypocrisy. It's a type of sin because it multiplies by putrefication. It does make an excellent type of sin, which multiplies by putrefication. And so the church, the leaven within it until it leavens the whole lump, the evil influences that have their way of permeating through the whole church.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man who planted wheat in his field, and at night the enemy came and sowed the tares. So that the servants, as it began to grow said, Lord, there are tares going on among the wheat, shall we go out and pull them up? No, He said, let them grow together until the end and then at harvest, take and gather the tares together and put them in bundles and cast them into fire but bring the wheat into my barn. Jesus taught that these evil influences would exist within the church, that they would grow together until the time of the great harvest.

The church is not a perfect organization. The church is made up of all kinds of people. And it's wise for you to recognize that because you can get skinned by people calling themselves Christians almost more readily than anybody else. Not all who say, "Lord, Lord", are going to enter the kingdom of heaven. And let's not be blind or foolish about this. The church is not a perfect organization; it's made up of all kinds of people.

Thank God there is the good. Thank God for the faithful. Thank God for those who are really seeking after God with all of their hearts. And it's because of those we can continue to exist. If it weren't for those, the Lord would have brought judgment on the church a long time ago and it would have been wiped out. But the time will come when judgment will begin. Where? At the house of God. And "if the righteous scarcely be saved, where will the sinner and the ungodly appear?" ( 1 Peter 4:18 ). I mean, if the judgment begins at the house of God, what you going to do when you get to San Francisco?

So the church is not a perfect organization. And those that are spending their lives in ministries to perfect the church so that the Lord can come again are due for a great disappointment, because in a great house there are all kinds of vessels, some are for honorable purposes, some for dishonorable purposes. Those of gold and silver were for the master of the house, that he might eat and drink out of these vessels of gold and silver. These were those that you love to use and entertain with when company comes. You bring out your best silver and your best golden cups and bowls and all, vessels of honor, want to display.

But in the same house, big house, you got so much garbage it's got to go out. So you've got a clay pot over there in which you dump all the garbage, vessel of dishonor. You throw the trash in it; you carry the trash out with that, all kinds of vessels, some of honor, some of dishonor. We are in this great house. We are a vessel.

What kind of a vessel am I? Am I a vessel of honor that is fit for the master's use? How can I be? First of all, I've got to separate myself from those impure doctrines and men who are espousing the impure doctrines.

If a man will purge himself from these ( 2 Timothy 2:21 ),

These what I often call sterile doctrines. You say, well, nothing's really wrong with that. Sounds a little weird but doesn't hurt anybody. Oh yes it does. So often there are doctrines that are being promulgated that the effect of the doctrine is sterilization. When you start to embrace it, it sterilizes you so that you are no longer fruitful, doctrines that get the people all introspective, all into themselves.

Demon, demon, who's got the demon? You know, and they have these parlor games where they cast the demons out of each other, lust and gluttony and lethargy and all of these demons that are hovering around and possessing the believers, you know. So we're going to have a casting-out party tonight. Come on over, we're going to cast demons out. And so a person yawns and says, Oh oh, did you see him yawn? We'd better cast the demon of sleepiness out of him. And if you burp, man, hands are laid on you, even the gluttony demon has to go. Purge yourself from these things. They're not profitable. Purge yourself from these things.

And you will be a vessel unto honour, sanctified ( 2 Timothy 2:21 ),

That is, God will set you apart. God will anoint you and you will be fit for the Master's use, then God will begin to use you. And that really is what it's all about, isn't it; to be used of God to touch some life, to be used of God to share His love, to be used of God as an instrument. That's what life is all about.

fit for the master's use, as He prepares us unto every good work ( 2 Timothy 2:21 ).

God begins to prepare you through the word, through prayer, through your experiences; they're all a part of God's necessary preparation. Paul wrote to the Ephesians and said, "You are His workmanship," God's working in you. Created together unto, created together unto Christ Jesus. No, "created together in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God has before ordained that you should accomplish" ( Ephesians 2:10 ). God has already foreordained that service that He wants you to accomplish for His glory, but He has to, first of all, work in you, preparing you.

So the experiences that I go through, the hardships, the difficulties, the testings, the trials, the sorrows; they're all a part of God's necessary preparation. As He is seeking to prepare the vessel to be used by the Master, as He empties me of myself, that He might fill me with His fullness that I no longer live for my own glory but I live now for His glory. That I serve Him in such a way that it brings glory to Him. "Let your light so shine before men, that when they see your good works, they glorify your Father which is in heaven" ( Matthew 5:16 ). "Prepared unto every good work."

Flee also [Timothy] youthful lusts ( 2 Timothy 2:22 ):

How many have been injured, destroyed because of youthful lusts? Flee them. Great example is that of Joseph as he was serving in the house of Potiphar. And the wife of Potiphar fell in love with him, sought to entice him to come into her bedchamber, daily was flirting, enticing. Until finally one day, when the rest of the servants were out, she grabbed hold of him, want to force him into the bed, and he wriggled free leaving his coat in her hand. And he ran out naked, fleeing youthful lusts. Smartest thing he could do. There are some times when the wisest thing you can do is run. "Flee youthful lusts:"

but follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart ( 2 Timothy 2:22 ).

And so those that are calling from a pure heart. What are the things, what are the characteristics? Righteousness, faith, love, peace.

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they are only designed to create strifes ( 2 Timothy 2:23 ).

There are a lot of lead questions that are only designed to create an argument. A person has a position that they want to espouse and so they come to you with a question. Why don't you baptize people immediately when they're saved? You see, they believe that a person really isn't saved until he's baptized. They want to get into an argument with you over baptism. Now he said avoid these questions. All they are intended to do is create strife. They're not really wanting to learn, they're only wanting an argument. They want to get in a fight.

The servant of the Lord must not strive ( 2 Timothy 2:24 );

Mustn't get into these arguments.

but be gentle unto all men, and apt to teach, and patient ( 2 Timothy 2:24 ),

Ready to teach but you got to be patient because in a great house, there are all kinds of vessels.

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance unto the acknowledging of the truth ( 2 Timothy 2:25 );

So you hope that God will work. You take your time. You're patient. You teach, teaching in meekness and just hoping that peradventure their hearts will be opened, that they might turn to the truth.

And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will ( 2 Timothy 2:26 ).

Oh, what an important verse. This verse teaches us that there are certain people who have been taken captive by Satan. They are bound by Satan, they are his captives. Now we have the power, the authority through Jesus Christ to deliver them from the captivity of the enemy, those who Satan holds, he holds by usurped power. You see, Jesus died for all men. He died for the sins of the world. That work of redemption was complete for all mankind. It covered every man's sin. Jesus redeemed the world back to God; however, Satan is still holding captive many people. But that hold that he has is a usurped authority that he has taken, but as long as the people are consenting to it, they remain his captives. And they consent to it because he has blinded their eyes to the truth of their own condition.

Paul said "the god of this world having blinded their eyes that they cannot see the truth" ( 2 Corinthians 4:4 ). So what a sad predicament the unbeliever is in as he is bound by Satan, a captive of Satan, but his eyes are blind so that he doesn't even realize the truth of his own condition. He doesn't know how precarious is his position for Satan has blinded his eyes. He's prejudiced against the Lord. Satan has blinded his eyes concerning the truth in Christ Jesus. Oh, I don't believe the Bible, all kinds of contradiction all in it. You hear that all the time.

I always say show me one. Oh well, there are lots of them. Well then, show me one. Oh it's filled with them, you know. I don't have to. It's full of them, you know. Well, tell me one. I heard someone say that one time. God of this world has blinded their eyes; they can't see the truth. Sad place to be that we might take them from the captivity. Is it possible that we can take them from the captivity?

Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" ( John 8:32 ). We can in love teaching them, instructing them, bring them the truth which can set them free. We can through prayer open their eyes to see the truth. We can bind that work of Satan that is blinding their eyes, that is keeping them from knowing the truth and we can deliver them from this captivity. Surely we ought to be engaged in this warfare. Enduring hardness as a good soldier. Getting out in the trenches. Fighting against the enemy. Delivering these who he has taken captive. Setting them free through the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Vessels of honor used by the master to bring His love and grace to a needy world around us. God help us.

Jesus, we thank You tonight for Your word, for Your help, for Your strength. And now, Lord, let the word of God dwell in our hearts richly through faith, that we being rooted and grounded may be able to comprehend more fully what is the length and the breadth and the depth and the height of the love of Jesus Christ for us. And Lord, we wish tonight to present our bodies to You, as living sacrifices, yielding to You our hands, our mouths, our feet, that You might use them, Lord, as instruments of righteousness to bring Your love to a dying world. In Jesus' name, Amen.

May the Lord richly bless you, fill you with His love and with His word and with His truth, guide you in all things. Make this a glorious week as we begin it in the word, founded on the truth. May you grow up in Christ, maturing and growing and developing until the life is being used by the Master in a great way, bringing glory and pleasure to Him. In Jesus' name. "

Contending for the Faith

WORKS CITED

Barclay, William. The Letters To Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Rev. Ed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Westminster Press, 1975.

Coffman, Burton. Commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians , 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus & Philemon. Austin, Texas: Firm Foundation Publishing House, 1978.

Expositor’s Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm B. Eerdmans, n.d.

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary, 2 Timothy. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1986.

Interpreter’s Bible. Vol. XI. New York: Abingdon Press, 1955.

Lipscomb, David. New Testament Commentaries, 2 Timothy. Nashville, Tennessee: Gospel Advocate Co., 1942.

Vincent, Marvin R. Word Studies in the New Testament. Vol. IV. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1957.

Vine, W.E. An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1956.

Wuest, Kenneth S. The Pastoral Epistles in the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1954.

Contending for the Faith

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Figures of speech never have an exact correspondence to that to which they are likened. Vessels cannot change into something else. Only in fairy tales are vessels of wood ever transformed into vessels of gold. It is, however, possible for humans to change, and it is imperative that they do so. No one is compelled to remain as he is. It is always possible for one to "purge himself of these." To "purge" means to "cleanse thoroughly" (Vine 232). From what must a man purge himself? No doubt Paul is urging that Christians purge themselves both from the errors and evils mentioned in this chapter and from the vessels of dishonor. Only then will disciples be "prepared unto every good work," sanctified and suited for any use to which the Master desires to put them.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

B. Charge to remain faithful 2:14-26

Paul turned from his emphasis on the importance of enduring hardship in the preceding verses (2 Timothy 2:1-13) to continue to emphasize Timothy’s need to remain faithful to the Lord. He did this to motivate him further to persevere.

"In this section, there is a shift in the didactic strategy from an emphasis on models to instruction with maxims and specific commands." [Note: Towner, The Letters . . ., p. 516.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Faithfulness in personal life 2:19-21

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Paul employed a different illustration to emphasize the same point. In the church there are individuals who honor the Lord as a result of their dedication to follow His truth. These people are useful to the Lord in His work because their commitment to His Word prepares them for His service. However there are also Christians who because of their lack of commitment to God’s truth bring dishonor on Him while they seek to be His instruments of service (e.g., false teachers). If someone avoids the defilement of this second group (2 Timothy 2:16), he or she can be a member of the first group (cf. Romans 9:21).

The major argument for identifying the "large house" as the church is the context. Paul was speaking of faithful and unfaithful Christians (cf. 1 Timothy 3:15). [Note: Lea, p. 218.]

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 2

THE CHAIN OF TEACHING ( 2 Timothy 2:1-2 )

2:1-2 As for you, my child, find your strength in the grace which is in Christ Jesus; and entrust the things which you have heard from me, and which are confirmed by many witnesses, to faithful men who will be competent to teach others too.

Here we have in outline two things--the reception and the transmission of the Christian faith.

(i) The reception of the faith is founded on two things. It is founded on hearing. It was from Paul that Timothy heard the truth of the Christian faith. But the words he heard were confirmed by the witness of many who were prepared to say: "These words are true--and I know it, because I have found it so in my own life." It may be that there are many of us who have not the gift of expression, and who can neither teach nor expound the Christian faith. But even he or she who has not the gift of teaching is able to witness to the living power of the gospel.

(ii) It is not only a privilege to receive the Christian faith; it is a duty to transmit it. Every Christian must look on himself as a link between two generations. E. K. Simpson writes on this passage: "The torch of heavenly light must be transmitted unquenched from one generation to another, and Timothy must count himself an intermediary between apostolic and later ages."

(iii) The faith is to be transmitted to faithful men who in their turn will teach it to others. The Christian Church is dependent on an unbroken chain of teachers. When Clement was writing to the Church at Corinth, he sketched that chain. "Our apostles appointed the aforesaid persons (that is, the elders) and afterwards they provided a continuance, that, if these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed to their ministry." The teacher is a link in the living chain which stretches unbroken from this present moment back to Jesus Christ.

These teachers are to be faithful men. The Greek for faithful, pistos ( G4103) , is a word with a rich variety of closely connected meanings. A man who is a pistos ( G4103) is a man who is believing, a man who is loyal, a man who is reliable. All these meanings are there. Falconer said that these believing men are such "that they will yield neither to persecution nor to error." The teacher's heart must be so stayed on Christ that no threat of danger will lure him from the path of loyalty and no seduction of false teaching cause him to stray from the straight path of the truth. He must be steadfast alike in life and in thought.

THE SOLDIER OF CHRIST ( 2 Timothy 2:3-4 )

2:3-4 Accept your share in suffering like a fine soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier who is on active service entangles himself in ordinary civilian business; he lays aside such things, so that by good service he may please the commander who has enrolled him in his army.

The picture of man as a soldier and life as a campaign is one which the Romans and the Greeks knew well. "To live," said Seneca, "is to be a soldier" (Seneca: Epistles 96: 5). "The life of every man," said Epictetus, "is a kind of campaign, and a campaign which is long and varied" (Epictetus: Discourses, 3, 24, 34). Paul took this picture and applied it to all Christians, but specially to the leaders and outstanding servants of the Church. He urges Timothy to fight a fine campaign ( 1 Timothy 1:18). He calls Archippus, in whose house a Church met, our fellow soldier ( Philemon 1:2). He calls Epaphroditus, the messenger of the Philippian Church, "my fellow soldier", ( Php_2:25 ). Clearly Paul saw in the life of the soldier a picture of the life of the Christian. What then were the qualities of the soldier which Paul would have repeated in the Christian life?

(i) The soldier's service must be a concentrated service. Once a man has enlisted on a campaign he can no longer involve himself in the ordinary daily business of life and living; he must concentrate on his service as a soldier. The Roman code of Theodosius said: "We forbid men engaged on military service to engage in civilian occupations." A soldier is a soldier and nothing else; the Christian must concentrate on his Christianity. That does not mean that he must engage on no worldly task or business. He must still live in this world, and he must still make a living; but it does mean that he must use whatever task he is engaged upon to demonstrate his Christianity.

(ii) The soldier is conditioned to obedience. The early training of a soldier is designed to make him unquestioningly obey the word of command. There may come a time when such instinctive obedience will save his life and the lives of others. There is a sense in which it is no part of the soldier's duty "to know the reason why." Involved as he is in the midst of the battle, he cannot see the over-all picture. The decisions he must leave to the commander who sees the whole field. The first Christian duty is obedience to the voice of God, and acceptance even of that which he cannot understand.

(iii) The soldier is conditioned to sacrifice. A. J. Gossip tells how, as a chaplain in the 1914-18 war, he was going up the line for the first time. War and blood, and wounds and death were new to him. On his way he saw by the roadside, left behind after the battle, the body of a young kilted Highlander. Oddly, perhaps, there flashed into his mind the words of Christ: "This is my body broken for you." The Christian must ever be ready to sacrifice himself, his wishes and his fortune, for God and for his fellow-men.

(iv) The soldier is conditioned to loyalty. When the Roman soldier joined the army he took the sacramentum, the oath of loyalty to his emperor. Someone records a conversation between Marshal Foch and an officer in the 1914-18 war. "You must not retire," said Foch, "you must hold on at all costs." "Then," said the officer aghast, "that means we must all die." And Foch answered: "Precisely!" The soldier's supreme virtue is that he is faithful unto death. The Christian too must be loyal to Jesus Christ, through all the chances and the changes of life, down even to the gates of death.

THE ATHLETE OF CHRIST ( 2 Timothy 2:5 )

2:5 And if anyone engages in an athletic contest, he does not win the crown unless he observes the rules of the game.

Paul has just used the picture of the soldier to represent the Christian, and now he uses two other pictures--those of the athlete and of the toiling husbandman. He uses the same three pictures close together in 1 Corinthians 9:6-7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

Paul says that the athlete does not win the crown of victory unless he observes the rules of the contest. There is a very interesting point in the Greek here which is difficult to bring out in translation. The King James Version speaks of striving lawfully. The Greek is athlein ( G118) nomimos ( G3545) . In fact that is the Greek phrase which was used by the later writers to describe a professional as opposed to an amateur athlete. The man who strove nomimos ( G3545) was the man who concentrated everything on his struggle. His struggle was not just a spare-time thing, as it might be for an amateur; it was a whole-time dedication of his life to excellence in the contest which he had chosen. Here then we have the same idea as in Paul's picture of the Christian as a soldier. A Christian's life must be concentrated upon his Christianity just as a professional athlete's life is concentrated upon his chosen contest. The spare-time Christian is a contradiction in terms; a man's whole life should be an endeavor to live out his Christianity. What then are the characteristics of the athlete which are in Paul's mind?

(i) The athlete is a man under discipline and self-denial. He must keep to his schedule of training and let nothing interfere with it. There will be days when he would like to drop his training and relax his discipline; but he must not do so. There will be pleasures and indulgences he would like to allow himself; but he must refuse them. The athlete who would excel knows that he must let nothing interfere with that standard of physical fitness which he has set himself. There must be discipline in the Christian life. There are times when the easy way is very attractive; there are times when the right thing is the hard thing; there are times when we are tempted to relax our standards. The Christian must train himself never to relax in the life-long attempt to make his soul pure and strong.

(ii) The athlete is a man who observes the rules. After the discipline and the rules of the training, there come the contest and the rules of the contest. An athlete cannot win unless he plays the game. The Christian, too, is often brought into contest with his fellow-men. He must defend his faith; he must seek to convince and to persuade; he will have to argue and to debate. He must do so by the Christian rules. No matter how hot the argument, he must never forget his courtesy. He must never be anything else but honest about his own position and fair to that of his opponent. The odium theologicum, the hatred of theologians, has become a byword. There is often no bitterness like religious bitterness. But the real Christian knows that the supreme rule of the Christian life is love, and he will carry that love into every debate in which he is engaged.

THE TOILER OF CHRIST ( 2 Timothy 2:6-7 )

2:6-7 It is the toiling husbandman who must be first to receive his share of the fruits. Think of what I am saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.

To represent the Christian life Paul has used the picture of the soldier and of the athlete, and now he uses the picture of the farmer. It is not the lazy husbandman, but the husbandman who toils, who must be the first to receive the share of the fruits of the harvest. What then are the characteristics of the husbandman which Paul would wish to see in the life of the Christian?

(i) Often the husbandman must be content, first, to work, and, then, to wait. More than any other workman, he has to learn that there are no such things as quick results. The Christian too must learn to work and to wait. Often he must sow the good seed of the word into the hearts and minds of his hearers and see no immediate result. A teacher has often to teach, and see no difference in those he teaches. A parent has often to seek to train and guide, and see no difference in the child. It is only when the years go by that the result is seen; for it often happens that when that same young person has grown to manhood, he or she is faced with some overmastering temptation or some terrible decision or some intolerable effort, and back into his mind comes some word of God or some flash of remembered teaching; and the teaching, the guidance, the discipline bears fruit, and brings honour where without it there would have been dishonour, salvation where without it there would have been ruin. The farmer has teamed to wait with patience, and so must the Christian teacher and the Christian parent.

(ii) One special thing characterizes the husbandman--he must be prepared to work at any hour. In harvest time we can see farmers at work in their fields so long as the last streak of light is left; they know no hours. Neither must the Christian. The trouble with so much Christianity is that it is spasmodic. But from dawn to sunset the Christian must be for ever at his task of being a Christian.

One thing remains in all three pictures. The soldier is upheld by the thought of final victory. The athlete is upheld by the vision of the crown. The husbandman is upheld by the hope of the harvest. Each submits to the discipline and the toil for the sake of the glory which shall be. It is so with the Christian. The Christian struggle is not without a goal; it is always going somewhere. The Christian can be certain that after the effort of the Christian life, there comes the joy of heaven; and the greater the struggle, the greater the joy.

THE ESSENTIAL MEMORY ( 2 Timothy 2:8-10 )

2:8-10 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, born of the seed of David, as I preached the gospel to you; that gospel for which I suffer, even to the length of fetters, on the charge of being a criminal. But though I am fettered, the word of God is not bound. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of God's chosen ones, that they too may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.

Right from the beginning of this letter Paul has been trying to inspire Timothy to his task. He has reminded him of his own belief in him and of the godly parentage from which he has come; he has shown him the picture of the Christian soldier, the Christian athlete and the Christian toiler. And now he comes to the greatest appeal of all--Remember Jesus Christ. Falconer calls these words: "The heart of the Pauline gospel." Even if every other appeal to Timothy's gallantry should fail, surely the memory of Jesus Christ cannot. In the words which follow, Paul is really urging Timothy to remember three things.

(i) Remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead. The tense of the Greek does not imply one definite act in time, but a continued state which lasts for ever. Paul is not so much saying to Timothy: "Remember the actual resurrection of Jesus"; but rather: "Remember your risen and ever-present Lord." Here is the great Christian inspiration. We do not depend on a memory, however great. We enjoy the power of a presence. When a Christian is summoned to a great task that he cannot but feel is beyond him, he must go to it in the certainty that he does not go alone, but that there is with him for ever the presence and the power of his risen Lord. When fears threaten, when doubts assail, when inadequacy depresses, remember the presence of the risen Lord.

(ii) Remember Jesus Christ born of the seed of David. This is the other side of the question. "Remember," says Paul to Timothy, "the manhood of the Master." We do not remember one who is only a spiritual presence; we remember one who trod this road, and lived this life, and faced this struggle, and who therefore knows what we are going through. We have with us the presence not only of the glorified Christ, but also of the Christ who knew the desperate struggle of being a man and followed to the bitter end the will of God.

(iii) Remember the gospel, the good news. Even when the gospel demands much, even when it leads to an effort which seems to be beyond human ability and to a future which seems dark with every kind of threat, remember that it is good news, and remember that the world is waiting for it. However hard the task the gospel offers, that same gospel is the message of liberation from sin and victory over circumstances for us and for all mankind.

So Paul kindles Timothy to heroism by calling upon him to remember Jesus Christ, to remember the continual presence of the risen Lord, to remember the sympathy which comes from the manhood of the Master, to remember the glory of the gospel for himself and for the world which has never heard it and is waiting for it.

THE CRIMINAL OF CHRIST ( 2 Timothy 2:8-10 continued)

When Paul wrote these words he was in a Roman prison, bound by a chain. This was literally true, for all the time he was in prison night and day he would be chained to the arm of a Roman soldier. Rome took no risks that her prisoners should escape.

Paul was in prison on the charge of being a criminal. It seems strange that even a hostile government should be able to regard a Christian, and especially Paul, as a criminal. There were two possible ways in which Paul might appear a criminal to the Roman government.

First, Rome had an empire which was almost coextensive with the then known world. It was obvious that such an empire was subject to stresses and to strains. The peace had to be kept and every possible centre of disaffection had to be eliminated. One of the things about which Rome was very particular was the formation of associations. In the ancient world there were many associations. There were, for instance, dinner clubs who met at stated intervals. There were what we would call friendly societies designed for charity for the dependents of members who had died. There were burial societies to see that their members were decently buried. But so particular were the Roman authorities about associations that even these humble and harmless societies had to receive special permission from the emperor before they were allowed to meet. Now the Christians were in effect an illegal association; and that is one reason why Paul, as a leader of such an association, might well be in the very serious position of being a political criminal.

Second, the first persecution of the Christians was intimately connected with one of the greatest disasters which ever befell the city of Rome. On 19 July A.D. 64 the great fire broke out. It burned for six days and seven nights and devastated the city. The most sacred shrines and the most famous buildings perished in the flames. But worse--the homes of the common people were destroyed. By far the greater part of the population lived in great tenements built largely of wood and they went up like tinder. People were killed and injured; they lost their nearest and dearest; they were left homeless and destitute. The population of Rome was reduced to what someone has called "a vast brotherhood of hopeless wretchedness."

It was believed that Nero, the emperor, himself was responsible for the fire. It was said that he had watched the fire from the Tower of Maecenas and declared himself charmed with "the flower and loveliness of the flames." It was said that when the fire showed signs of dying down men were seen rekindling it with burning brands, and that these men were the servants of Nero. Nero had a passion for building, and it was said that he had deliberately fired the city so that from the ruins he might build a new and nobler Rome. Whether the story was true or not--the chances are that it was--one thing was certain. Nothing would kill the rumor. The destitute citizens of Rome were sure that Nero had been responsible.

There was only one thing for the Roman government to do; they must find a scapegoat. And a scapegoat was found. Let Tacitus, the Roman historian, tell how it was done: "But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiation's of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace" (Tacitus: Annals, 15: 44). Obviously slanders were already circulating regarding the Christians. No doubt the influential Jews were responsible. And the hated Christians were saddled with the blame for the disastrous fire of Rome. It was from that event that the first great persecution sprang. Paul was a Christian. More, he was the great leader of the Christians. And it may well be that part of the charge against Paul was that he was one of those responsible for the fire of Rome and the resulting misery of the populace.

So, then, Paul was in prison as a criminal, a political prisoner, member of an illegal association and leader of that hated sect of incendiaries, on whom Nero had fastened the blame for the destruction of Rome. It can easily be seen how helpless Paul was in face of charges like that.

FREE YET IN FETTERS BOUND ( 2 Timothy 2:8-10 continued)

Even though he was in prison on charges which made release impossible, Paul was not dismayed and was very far from despair. He had two great uplifting thoughts.

(i) He was certain that, though he might be bound, nothing could bind the word of God. Andrew Melville was one of the earliest heralds of the Scottish Reformation. One day the Regent Morton sent for him and denounced his writings. "There will never be quietness in this country," he said, "till half a dozen of you be hanged or banished the country." "Tush! sir," answered Melville, "threaten your courtiers in that fashion. It is the same to me whether I rot in the air or in the ground. The earth is the Lord's; my fatherland is wherever well-doing is. I have been ready to give my life when it was not half as well worn, at the pleasure of my God. I lived out of your country ten years as well as in it. Yet God be glorified, it will not lie in your power to hang nor exile his truth!"

You can exile a man, but you cannot exile the truth. You can imprison a preacher, but you cannot imprison the word he preaches. The message is always greater than the man; the truth is always mightier than the bearer. Paul was quite certain that the Roman government could never find a prison which could contain the word of God. And it is one of the facts of history that if human effort could have obliterated Christianity, it would have perished long ago; but men cannot kill that which is immortal.

(ii) Paul was certain that what he was going through would in the end be a help to other people. His suffering was not pointless and profitless. The blood of the martyrs has ever been the seed of the Church; and the lighting of the pyre where Christians were burned has always been the lighting of a fire which could never be put out. When anyone has to suffer for his Christianity, let him remember that his suffering makes the road easier for someone else who is still to come. In suffering we bear our own small portion of the weight of the Cross of Christ and do our own small part in the bringing of God's salvation to men.

THE SONG OF THE MARTYR ( 2 Timothy 2:11-13 )

2:11-13 This is a saying which can be relied upon:

This is a peculiarly precious passage because in it is enshrined one of the first hymns of the Christian Church. In the days of persecution the Christian Church put its faith into song. It may be that this is only a fragment of a longer hymn. Polycarp (5: 2) seems to give us a little more of it, when he writes: "If we please Christ in the present world, we shall inherit the world to come; as he has promised to raise us from the dead, and has said:

'If we walk worthily of him,

So shall we reign with him'."

There are two possible interpretations of the first two lines--"If we die with him, we shall also live with him." There are those who wish to take these lines as a reference to baptism. In Romans 6:1-23 baptism is likened to dying and rising with Christ. "We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." "But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him" ( Romans 6:4; Romans 6:8). No doubt the language is the same; but the thought of baptism is quite irrelevant here; it is the thought of martyrdom that is in Paul's mind. Luther, in a great phrase, said: "Ecclesia haeres crucis est," "The Church is the heir of the Cross." The Christian inherits Christ's Cross, but he also inherits Christ's Resurrection. He is partner both in the shame and in the glory of his Lord.

The hymn goes on: "If we endure, we shall also reign with him." It is he who endures to the end who will be saved. Without the Cross there cannot be the Crown.

Then comes the other side of the matter: "If we deny him, he too will deny us." That is what Jesus himself said: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven" ( Matthew 10:32-33). Jesus Christ cannot vouch in eternity for a man who has refused to have anything to do with him in time; but he is for ever true to the man who, however much he has failed, has tried to be true to him.

These things are so because they are part of the very nature of God. A man may deny himself, but God cannot. "God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should repent" ( Numbers 23:19). God will never fail the man who has tried to be true to him, but not even he can help the man who has refused to have anything to do with him.

Long ago Tertullian said: "The man who is afraid to suffer cannot belong to him who suffered" (Tertullian: De Fuga, 14). Jesus died to be true to the will of God; and the Christian must follow that same will, whatever light may shine or shadow fall.

THE DANGER OF WORDS ( 2 Timothy 2:14 )

2:14 Remind your people of these things; and charge them before the Lord not to engage in battles of words--a thing of no use at all, and a thing which can only result in the undoing of those who listen to it.

Once again Paul returns to the inadequacy of words. We must remember that the Pastoral Epistles were written against a background of those Gnostics who produced their long words and their fantastic theories, and tried to make Christianity into a recondite philosophy instead of an adventure of faith.

There is both fascination and peril in words. They can become a substitute for deeds. There are people who are more concerned to talk than to act. If the world's problems could have been solved by discussion, they would have been solved long ago. But words cannot replace deeds. As Charles Kingsley wrote in A Farewell:

"Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever;

Do noble things, not dream them, all day long."

As Philip James Bailey wrote in Festus:

"We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;

In feelings, not in figures on a dial.

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives

Who thinks most--feels the noblest--acts the best."

Dr. Johnson was one of the great talkers of all time; John Wesley was one of the great men of action of all time. They knew each other, and Johnson had only one complaint about Wesley: "John Wesley's conversation is good, but he is never at leisure. He is always obliged to go at a certain hour. This is very disagreeable to a man who loves to fold his legs and have his talk out, as I do." But the fact remains that Wesley, the man of action, wrote his name across England in a way in which Johnson, the man of talk, never did.

It is not even true that talk and discussion fully solve intellectual problems. One of the most suggestive things Jesus ever said was: "If any man's will is to do his will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God" ( John 7:17). Often understanding comes not by talking, but by doing. In the old Latin phrase, solvitur ambulando, the thing will solve itself as you go on. It often happens that the best way to understand the deep things of Christianity is to embark on the unmistakable duties of the Christian life.

There remains one further thing to be said. Too much talk and too much discussion can have two dangerous effects.

First, they may give the impression that Christianity is nothing but a collection of questions for discussion and problems for solution. The discussion circle is a characteristic phenomenon of this age. As G. K. Chesterton once said: "We have asked all the questions which can be asked. It is time we stopped looking for questions, and started looking for answers." In any society the discussion circle must be balanced by the action group.

Second, discussion can be invigorating for those whose approach to the Christian faith is intellectual, for those who have a background of knowledge and of culture, for those who have a real knowledge of, or interest in, theology. But it sometimes happens that a simple-minded person finds himself in a group which is tossing heresies about and propounding unanswerable questions, and his faith, so far from being helped, is upset. It may well be that that is what Paul means when he says that wordy battles can undo those who listen to them. The normal word used for building a person up in the Christian faith, for edification, is the same as is used for literally building a house; the word which Paul uses here for ruin (katastrophe, G2692) is what might well be used for the demolition of a house. And it may well happen that clever, subtle, speculative, intellectually reckless discussion may have the effect of demolishing, and not building up, the faith of some simple person who happens to become involved in it. As in all things, there is a time to discuss and a time to be silent.

THE WAY OF TRUTH AND THE WAY OF ERROR ( 2 Timothy 2:15-18 )

2:15-18 Put out every effort to present yourself to God as one who has stood the test, as a workman who has no need to be ashamed, as one who rightly handles the word of truth.

Paul urges Timothy to present himself, amidst the false teachers, as a real teacher of the truth. The word he uses for "to present" is parastesai ( G3936) , which characteristically means to present oneself for service. The following words and phrases all develop this idea of usefulness for service.

The Greek for one who has stood the test is dokimos ( G1384) , which describes anything which has been tested and is fit for service. For instance, it describes gold or silver which has been purified of all alloy in the fire. It is therefore the word for money which is genuine, or, as we would say, sterling. It is the word used for a stone which is fit to be fitted into its place in a building. A stone with a flaw in it was marked with a capital A, standing for adokimastos (compare 0096), which means tested and found wanting. Timothy was to be tested that he might be a fit weapon for the work of Christ, and therefore a workman who had no need to be ashamed.

Further, Timothy is urged in a famous phrase rightly to divide the word of truth. The Greek word translated to divide rightly is interesting. It is orthotomein ( G3718) , which literally means to cut rightly. It has many pictures in it. Calvin connected it with a father dividing out the food at a meal and cutting it up so that each member of the family received the right portion. Beza connected it with the cutting up of sacrificial victims so that each part was correctly apportioned to the altar or to the priest. The Greeks themselves used the word in three different connections. They used it for driving a straight road across country, for ploughing a straight furrow across a field, and for the work of a mason in cutting and squaring a stone so that it fitted into its correct place in the structure of the building. So the man who rightly divides the word of truth, drives a straight road through the truth and refuses to be lured down pleasant but irrelevant by-paths; he ploughs a straight furrow across the field of truth; he takes each section of the truth, and fits it into its correct position, as a mason does a stone, allowing no part to usurp an undue place and so knock the whole structure out of balance.

On the other hand, the false teacher engages on what Paul would call "godless chatterings." Then Paul uses a vivid phrase. The Greeks had a favorite word for making progress (prokoptein, G4298) . It literally means to cut down in front; to remove the obstacles from a road so that straight and uninterrupted progress is possible. Paul says of these senseless talkers that they progress further and further into ungodliness. They progress in reverse. The more they talk, the farther they get from God. Here then is the test. If at the end of our talk, we are closer to one another and to God, then all is well; but if we have erected barriers between one another and have left God more distant, then all is not well. The aim of all Christian discussion and of all Christian action is to bring a man nearer to his fellows and to God.

THE LOST RESURRECTION ( 2 Timothy 2:15-18 continued)

Amongst the false teachers Paul numbers especially Hymenaeus and Philetus. Who these men were we do not know. But we get a brief glimpse of their teaching in at least one of its aspects. They said that the resurrection had already happened. This of course does not refer to the Resurrection of Jesus; it refers to the resurrection of the Christian after death. We do know two false views of the resurrection of the Christian which had some influence in the early Church.

(i) It was claimed that the real resurrection of the Christian took place at baptism. It is true that in Romans 6:1-23 Paul had written vividly about how the Christian dies in the moment of baptism and rises to life anew. There were those who taught that the resurrection happened in that moment of baptism and that it was resurrection to new life in Christ here and now, not after death.

(ii) There were those who taught that the meaning of individual resurrection was nothing more than that a man lived on in his children.

The trouble was that this kind of teaching found an echo in both the Jewish and the Greek side of the Church. On the Jewish side, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the body but the Sadducees did not. Any teaching which did away with the conception of life after death would appeal to the Sadducees; the trouble with the Pharisees was that they were wealthy materialists, who had so big a stake in this world that they were not interested in any world to come.

On the Greek side, the trouble was much greater. In the early days of Christianity, the Greeks, generally speaking, believed in immortality but not in the resurrection of the body. The highest belief was that of the Stoics. They believed that God was what might be called fiery spirit. The life in man was a spark of that spirit, a spark of God himself, a scintilla of deity. But they believed that when a man died that spark went back to God and was reabsorbed in him. That is a noble belief but it clearly abolishes personal survival after death. Further, the Greeks believed that the body was entirely evil. They had their play on words as a watchword: "Soma ( G4983) Sema (compare G4591) ," "The body is a tomb (marker)." The last thing they desired or believed in was the resurrection of the body; and therefore they, too, were open to receive any teaching about the resurrection which fitted their beliefs.

It is obvious that the Christian does not believe in the resurrection of this body. No one could conceive of someone smashed in an accident or dying of cancer reawakening in heaven with the same body. But the Christian does believe in the survival of personal identity; he believes most strenuously that after death you will still be you and I will still be I. Any teaching which removes that certainty of the personal survival of each individual man strikes at the very root of Christian belief.

When Hymenaeus and Philetus and their like taught that the resurrection had already happened, either at the moment of baptism or in a man's children, they were teaching something which Sadducean Jews and philosophic Greeks would be by no means averse to accepting; but they were also teaching something which undermined one of the central beliefs of the Christian faith.

THE FIRM FOUNDATION ( 2 Timothy 2:19 )

2:19 But the firm foundation of God stands fast with this inscription:

In English we use foundation in a double sense. We use it to mean the basis on which a building is erected; and also in the sense of an association, a college, a city which has been founded by someone. For instance, we talk about the foundation of a house; and we also say that King's College, Cambridge, is a foundation of Henry the Sixth. Greek used the word themelios ( G2310) in the same two ways; and the foundation of God here means the Church, the association which he has founded.

Paul goes on to say that the Church has a certain inscription on it. The word he uses is sphragis ( G4973) whose usual meaning is seal. The sphragis ( G4973) is the seal which proves genuineness or ownership. The seal on a sack of goods proved that the contents were genuine and had not been interfered with; and it also indicated the ownership and the source of the goods. But sphragis ( G4973) had other uses. It was used to denote the brandmark, what we would call the trademark. Galen, the Greek doctor, speaks of the sphragis ( G4973) on a certain phial of eye salve, meaning the mark which showed what brand of eye salve the phial contained. Still further, the sphragis ( G4973) was the architect's mark. Always on a monument or a statue or a building the architect put his mark, to show that he was responsible for its design. The sphragis ( G4973) can also be the inscription which indicates the purpose for which a building has been built.

The Church has a sphragis ( G4973) which shows at once what it is designed to be. The sign on the Church Paul gives in two quotations. But the way in which these two quotations are made is very illuminating in regard to the manner in which Paul and the early Church used scripture. The two quotations are: "The Lord knows those who are his," and "Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness." The interesting thing is that neither is a literal quotation from any part of scripture.

The first is a reminiscence of a saying of Moses to the rebellious friends and associates of Korah in the wilderness days. When they gathered themselves together against him, Moses said: "The Lord will show who is his" ( Numbers 16:5). But that Old Testament text was read in the light of the saying of Jesus in Matthew 7:22: "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, I never knew you: depart from me you evil-doers." The Old Testament text is, as it were, retranslated into the words of Jesus.

The second is another reminiscence of the Korah story. It was Moses' command to the people: "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs" ( Numbers 16:26). But that, too, is read in the light of the words of Jesus in Luke 13:27, where he says to those who falsely claim to be his followers: "Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity."

Two things emerge. The early Christians always read the Old Testament in the light of the words of Jesus; and they were not interested in verbal niceties, but to any problem they brought the general sense of the whole range of scripture. These are still excellent principles by which to read and use scripture.

The two texts give us two broad principles about the Church:

The first tells us that the Church consists of those who belong to God, who have given themselves to him in such a way that they no longer possess themselves and the world no longer possesses them, but God possesses them.

The second tells us that the Church consists of those who have departed from unrighteousness. That is not to say that it consists of perfect people. If that were so, there would be no Church. It has been said that the great interest of God is not so much in where a man has reached, as in the direction in which he is facing. And the Church consists of those whose faces are turned to righteousness. They may often fall and the goal may sometimes seem distressingly far away, but their faces are ever set in the right direction.

The Church consists of those who belong to God and have dedicated themselves to the struggle for righteousness.

VESSELS OF HONOR AND OF DISHONOR ( 2 Timothy 2:20-21 )

2:20-21 In any great house there are not only gold and silver vessels; there are also vessels of wood and earthenware. And some are put to a noble use and some to an ignoble use. If anyone purifies himself from these things, he will be a vessel fit to be put to a noble use, ready for any good work.

The connection between this passage and the one which immediately precedes it is very practical. Paul had just given a great and high definition of the Church as consisting of those who belong to God and are on the way to righteousness. The obvious rejoinder is: How do you explain the existence of the chattering heretics in the Church? How do you explain the existence of Hymenaeus and Philetus? Paul's reply is that in any great house there are all kinds of utensils; there are things of precious metal and things of base metal; there are things which have a dishonourable use and things which have an honourable use. It must be so in the Church. So long as it is an earthly institution it must be a mixture. So long as it consists of men and women, it must remain a cross-section of humanity. Just as it takes all kinds of people to make a world, so it takes all kinds of people to make the Church.

That is a practical truth which Jesus had stated long before, in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares ( Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-43). The point of that parable is that the wheat and the tares grow together, and, in the early stages, are so like each other that it is impossible to separate them. He stated it again in the Parable of the Drag-net ( Matthew 13:47-48). The drag-net gathered of every kind. In both parables Jesus teaches that the Church is necessarily a mixture and that human judgment must be suspended, but that God's judgment will in the end make the necessary separations.

Those who criticize the Church because there are imperfect people in it are criticizing it because it is composed of men and women. It is not given to us to judge; judgment belongs to God.

But it is the duty of a Christian to keep himself free from polluting influences. And if he does, his reward is not special honour and special privilege but special service.

Here is the very essence of the Christian faith. A really good man does not regard his goodness as entitling him to special honour; his one desire will be to have more and more work to do, for his work will be his greatest privilege. If he is good, the last thing he will do will be to seek to stand aloof from his fellow-men. He will rather seek to be among them, at their worst, serving God by serving them. His glory will not be in exemption from service; it will be in still more demanding service. No Christian should ever think of fitting himself for honour but always as fitting himself for service.

ADVICE TO A CHRISTIAN LEADER ( 2 Timothy 2:22-26 )

2:22-26 Flee from youthful passions; run in pursuit of righteousness in the company of those who call on the Lord from a clean conscience. Have nothing to do with foolish and stupid arguments, for you know that they only breed quarrels. The servant of the Lord must not fight, rather he must be kindly to all, apt to teach, forbearing, disciplining his opponents by gentleness. It may be that God will enable them to repent, so that they will come to know the truth, and so that they will escape from the snare of the devil, when they are captured alive by God's servant that they may do God's will.

Here is a passage of most practical advice for the Christian leader and teacher.

He must flee from youthful lusts. Many commentators have made suggestions as to what these youthful lusts are. They are far more than the passions of the flesh. They include that impatience, which has never learned to hasten slowly and has still to discover that too much hurry can do far more harm than good; that self-assertion, which is intolerant in its opinions and arrogant in its expression of them, and which has not yet learned to see the good in points of view other than its own; that love of disputation, which tends to argue long and act little, and which will talk the night away and be left with nothing but a litter of unsolved problems; that love of novelty, which tends to condemn a thing simply because it is old and to desire a thing simply because it is new, underrating the value of experience. One thing is to be noted--the faults of youth are the faults of idealism. It is simply the freshness and intensity of the vision which makes youth run into these mistakes. Such faults are matters not for austere condemnation but for sympathetic correction, for every one has a virtue hidden beneath it.

The Christian teacher and leader is to aim at righteousness, which means giving both to men and to God their due; at faith, which means loyalty and reliability which both come from trust in God; at love, which is the utter determination never to seek anything but the highest good of our fellow-men, no matter what they do to us, and which has for ever put away all bitterness and all desire for vengeance; at peace, which is the right relationship of loving fellowship with God and with men. And all these things are to be sought in the company of those who call upon the Lord. The Christian must never seek to live detached and aloof from his fellow-men. He must find his strength and his joy in the Christian fellowship. As John Wesley said: "A man must have friends or make friends; for no one ever went to heaven alone."

The Christian leader must not get involved in senseless controversies which are the curse of the Church. In the modern Church Christian arguments are usually doubly senseless, for they are seldom about great matters of life and doctrine and faith, but almost always about unimportant things like teacups and the like. Once a leader is involved in senseless and unchristian controversy, he has forfeited all right to lead.

The Christian leader must be kindly to all; even when he has to criticize and point out a fault, it must be done with the gentleness which never seeks to hurt. He must be apt to teach; he must not only know the truth, but also be able to communicate it, and he will do that, not so much by talking about it, as by living in such a way that he shows men Christ. He must be forbearing; like his Master, if he is reviled, he must not revile again; he must be able to accept insult and injury, slights and humiliations, as Jesus accepted them. There may be greater sins than touchiness, but there is none which does greater damage in the Christian Church. He must discipline his opponents in gentleness; his hand like the hand of a surgeon, unerring to find the diseased spot, yet never for a moment causing unnecessary pain. He must love men, not batter them, into submission to the truth.

The last sentence of this passage is in very involved Greek, but it seems to be a hope that God will awaken repentance and the desire for the truth in the hearts of men, so that those who are caught in the snare of the devil may be rescued while their souls are still alive and brought into obedience to the will of God by the work of his servant. It is God who awakes the repentance; it is the Christian leader who opens the door of the Church to the penitent heart.

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

2Tim 2:21

These = the iniquity of v. 19

Point: Paul urges those to whom he is committing stewardship of the truth to separate themselves from dishonorable men as Hymenaeus and Philetus.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

If a man therefore purge himself from these,.... That is, if a man clears himself, and keeps himself clear from such men as Hymenaeus and Philetus, who are comparable to wooden and earthen vessels, and are dishonourable ones; if he shuns their defiling company, and polluting principles; if he keeps clear of their heresies, and is not carried away with the errors of these wicked men, and is not drawn aside by them into immoral practices, but stands fast in the faith, and departs from iniquity:

he shall be a vessel unto honour; he will be made manifest, and appear to be a vessel chosen to honour; and will be an honourable member of the church here, and will be honoured by Christ hereafter:

sanctified: he will appear to be one that is set apart by God the Father, and whose sins are purged away by the blood of Christ, and who is sanctified internally by the Spirit of God; for external holiness springs from internal holiness, and is, an evidence of it:

and meet for the master's use: the use and service of Christ, who is the master of the house; either for the ministry of the word, the administration of ordinances, or for some service or another, which he calls him to, and employs him in.

And prepared unto every good work; which an unregenerate man is not; he is to every good work reprobate; he is not capable of performing good works; he is not prepared for them, nor ready at them; but a true believer, one that is regenerated, and sanctified by the Spirit of God, he is created in Christ Jesus unto good works; and has in the performing of them right principles, aims, and ends, as well as a supply of grace, by which he is enabled to do them.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.   20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.   21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

      Here we see what we may comfort ourselves with, in reference to this, and the little errors and heresies that both infect and infest the church, and do mischief.

      I. It may be a great comfort to us that the unbelief of men cannot make the promise of God of no effect. Though the faith of some particular persons be overthrown, yet the foundation of God standeth sure (2 Timothy 2:19; 2 Timothy 2:19); it is not possible that they should deceive the elect. Or it may be meant of the truth itself, which they impugn. All the attacks which the powers of darkness have made upon the doctrine of Christ cannot shake it; it stands firm, and weathers all the storms which have been raised against it. The prophets and apostles, that is, the doctrines of the Old and New Testament, are still firm; and they have a seal with two mottoes upon it, one on the one side, and the other on the other, as is usual in a broad seal. 1. One expresses our comfort--that the Lord knows those that are his, and those that are not; knows them, that is, he owns them, so knows them that he will never lose them. Though the faith of some be overthrown, yet the Lord is said to know the ways of the righteous, Psalms 1:6. None can overthrow the faith of any whom God hath chosen. 2. Another declares our duty--that every one who names the name of Christ must depart from iniquity. Those who would have the comfort of the privilege must make conscience of the duty. If the name of Christ be called upon us, we must depart from iniquity, else he will not own us; he will say in the great day (Matthew 7:23), Depart from me, I never knew you, you workers of iniquity. Observe, (1.) Whatever errors are introduced into the church, the foundation of God standeth sure, his purpose can never be defeated. (2.) God hath some in the church who are his and whom he knows to be his. (3.) Professing Christians name the name of Christ, are called by his name, and therefore are bound to depart from iniquity; for Christ gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,Titus 2:14.

      II. Another thing that may comfort us is that though there are some whose faith is overthrown, yet there are others who keep their integrity, and hold it fast (2 Timothy 2:20; 2 Timothy 2:20): In a great house there are not only vessels of gold, c. The church of Christ is a great house, a well-furnished house: now some of the furniture of this house is of great value, as the plate in a house some of small value, and put to mean uses, as the vessels of wood and earth; so it is in the church of God. There are some professors of religion that are like the vessels of wood and earth, they are vessels of dishonour. But at the same time all are not vessels of dishonour; there are vessels of gold and silver, vessels of honour, that are sanctified and meet for the Master's use. When we are discouraged by the badness of some, we must encourage ourselves by the consideration of the goodness of others. Now we should see to it that we be vessels of honour: we must purge ourselves from these corrupt opinions, that we may be sanctified for our Master's use. Observe, 1. In the church there are some vessels of honour and some of dishonour; there are some vessels of mercy and other vessels of wrath, Romans 9:22; Romans 9:23. Some dishonour the church by their corrupt opinions and wicked lives; and others honour and credit it by their exemplary conversation. 2. A man must purge himself from these before he can be a vessel of honour, or meet for his Master's use. 3. Every vessel must be fit for its Master's use; every one in the church whom God approves must be devoted to his Master's service and meet for his use. 4. Sanctification in the heart is our preparation for every good work. The tree must be made good, and then the fruit will be good.

Kelly Commentary on Books of the Bible

Turning to the SECOND EPISTLE, we find that, although there is the same grand truth of the Saviour God maintained, the state of things had become sensibly worse, and the hour for the apostle's departure from the world was drawing near. Accordingly, there is a depth of feeling that one may safely say far exceeds the first epistle, although it had shown so much tenderness and care both for Timothy and the faithful of those days. But now there were other reasons for it, namely, that Christians were neglecting godliness and order. They had been long accustomed to the truth, and alas! human nature began to show itself out in indifference. There was no longer the freshness of a new thing; and where the heart was not kept up in communion with the Lord, the value of divine things was less felt, if it did not quite fade away. Accordingly, in much grief of heart, the apostle writes to his tried and trembling child in the faith, and seeks to strengthen him, above all things not to be discouraged, and to make up his mind to endure hard things. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise." (2 Timothy 1:1.) It is not "the commandment," as of authority, but "according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus." The crumbling away of everything here was before the apostle; and accordingly it is one of the peculiar features of this second epistle, that he brings out that which never can decay which was before there was a world to dissolve namely, that life which was in Christ Jesus before the world began.

Thus the apostle comes to the close of his ministry, and touches upon the line of St. John. There is no part of John's doctrine more strikingly characteristic than life in Christ. Now we see that when Paul was touching the confines of that difficult and most perilous moment when John was to be left alone, he brings out as his last note that very truth which John was to develop with special care and fulness. "To Timothy, my dearly-beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers," what singular language this from Paul! How comes it so? Paul "the aged," as he says, was just about to leave this world. Activity of service was no longer before him. This he had known most extensively, but it was closed; no longer had he before him any prospect of having to fight the battles of the church of God. He had fought the good fight of faith. Others must do that kind of work in future. But now before his heart just as in principle before the dying Lord Himself, wonderful to say two things come together: a deeper sense of what is in God, as revealed in Christ Himself, before there was any creation at all; and on the other hand so much the deeper sense also of what could be owned in nature. Now these seem to many very difficult indeed to combine. They appear to think that if you hold life in Christ to be the one thing that is most precious, to be the prize that your heart reverts to, all owning of anything short of this would be out of place; but it is exactly the contrary. When the Lord was entering on His ministry He says, "Woman, what have I to do with thee?" But when dying upon the cross, He calls to John to behold His mother. We find a precisely similar kind of combination in Paul. Of course it was infinitely higher, it is needless to say, in the Master; but the servant was as closely as possible following in His steps.

It is beautiful to trace this double working and current of the apostle that is, what is imperishable, above and beyond nature; and, along with this, the utmost value put on everything that he would own in those naturally bound up with him those of either family that feared God. "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." He had not said a word about them before. There was infirmity in the character of Timothy. There might be a mixture of timid shrinking from pain and shame. He was one that needed to lean on an arm stronger than his own. It was a part of his lot. Thus it was that God had made him: there was no use denying it. But the apostle at the same time owns, and loves to own, that which another might perhaps despise. There was no despising natural links or spiritual here, far from it.

Timothy, again, winced under trials, too sensitive to slights, disappointments, and the manifold griefs that came upon him. But the apostle remembered it all, felt deeply for if not with him, and greatly desiring to see him once more. His own desire after going to the Lord did not prevent this, but the reverse: "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." I refer to this just to remark that such links as these, which are connected with nature, all come before the apostle's mind, at the very moment when a spurious feeling would have judged it precisely the time to banish and forget them. There are persons who think that the approach of death is intended to blot out everything here. Not so the apostle Paul. In that large heart which weighed so justly and with single eye, there was a deepening feeling as to all that he saw around him; there was a realizing of the importance of things of which he had said not a word before. For him the light of eternity already shone strongly on present things, instead of taking him completely out of them. And this, I believe, is much to be considered.

"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" (it was what Timothy was manifesting), "but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (there must, I suppose, have been some ground for the exhortation), "nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God; 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." Here we have him recurring to that which was entirely outside nature, and before its very platform existed. At the same time there is the carrying on his full notice of everything found here below that would be a source of comfort to one who anticipated the ruin of Christendom.

Afterwards he also speaks of his own work and of that which he was suffering. Instead of hiding either from Timothy, he points all out to him. He wants to accustom his mind to expect hardship instead of shirking it. He tells him further to "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." At the same time he shows also his sense of the kindness of a particular individual and his family. "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but, when. he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me." It appears it was not merely in Rome. "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day." The same tone of mercy is equally promised in this #epistle as in the last. "And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well."

In the second chapter he turns to another theme, he instructs and exhorts Timothy as to communicating (not authority, or status, or gift, but) truth to others. It is not a question here about elders, but what would abide all the same when elders could not be duly appointed. He is now looking at the state of disorder in the house of God, instead of contemplating it in its public integrity, as in the first epistle. There was a state of things coming when it would be impossible to have local charges chosen according to the full sanction which they had in apostolic days. Indeed it may be well to remark here, that we never read of Timothy appointing bishops or elders. Possibly he did appoint them; but there is no scriptural proof of it. Titus, we know, did so; but God took care that it should never be positively stated about Timothy. The peculiar task confided to the latter was care of doctrine much more than of outward order. As far as appointment went, Titus had a commission to establish elders in each city of Crete; but not so Timothy, as far as the inspired records speak.

"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." (2 Timothy 2:1.) We must not be afraid of a manifest duty because it has been abused. There are those who shrink from helping on others in order to the work and doctrine of the Lord. This I cannot but consider as a proof of want of faith. What is a man well taught in the truth for, if not to communicate his knowledge to others that are faithful, but not equally instructed in the word of God? Surely if it is an urgent call to convey what we know of Christ and the truth to those that know nothing, it is a great privilege to help to contribute a greater knowledge of the truth to those that know little. The great thing is to do the will of God, let others say what they please; and so the apostle Paul exhorts Timothy. It is to be supposed that the younger labourer cowered somewhat, unwilling to incur the odious charge, so easily made but hard to refute, of setting himself up and taking the place of some great one. This might deter a sensitive saint from his duty. But, says the apostle, "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." This was to touch the right chord in his heart. Had the Lord Jesus not sent him? Why then yield to the enemy? Assuredly he would rejoice to scare Timothy from the field of serving Christ, and would shrink from no means to secure it.

"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." He would not have him to be spreading doubtful opinions; but what he had heard from the apostle himself he need not scruple to give out freely. Let me remark, that there are comparatively few indeed that receive truth without help of others directly from God. A great many certainly flatter themselves that they are thus favoured; but the cases are uncommon where it is more than pretence. The fact is that God loves to make His children mutually dependent; and if we are only humble, there are very few saints from whom we may not derive some good, though not always in the same way. Nor do I at all see that any Christians should be above learning, if others can teach. At any rate the apostle presses this very strongly on Timothy. He was to communicate the things he had learnt of Paul, that they might be able to teach others also.

Next he comes to a more personal need. "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." To take pains and to endure are requisite even in what pertains to this life. "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life" (he must be unencumbered, and undivided in his object); "that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully." He must take care of the manner in which he strives. And then again "the husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits." Rather he must "labour before he partake of the fruits." That is, he must first labour, and then partake of the fruits. God takes care of His people, and ensures them a blessed end. At the same time He will have them undividedly for Himself; and He is also jealous of the way in which they seek even the ends of God.

Then the apostle puts before them a blessed model of that which he had before his own soul. "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." This is a very striking word. For he does not say Jesus Christ simply in. His connection with the church, but "of the seed of David," the fulfiller of the promises, and object of the prophecies. Even if we look at Him so, He was raised from the dead. Resurrection is the form and character of the lowest blessings of which Jesus is the dispenser; much more is He risen to exalt God in the highest. Death and resurrection, then, are thus put before this servant of God; the more remarkably, because the point here is a practical and not a doctrinal question. He was to remember, then, "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." Paul suffered as he taught: a single eye to Christ and His grace made him consistent. "Put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings."

It was thus Paul treated the proud reasonings and speculations of man; withal briefly touching on those that had gone entirely astray Hymenaeus and Philetus. It was not merely now that they had made their consciences bad and slipped away from faith. Their own word would eat as a canker, and do harm to others as well as to themselves, "who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some." This was to reverse the lesson of a risen Christ, and to open the way for all laxity. It was a kindred error, though in an opposite direction, to that which false teachers sought to infuse among the Thessalonians: there that the day of the Lord was come, producing panic; here that the resurrection was past, leading, to ease. The one was suited to upset the young, the other to beguile the old.

Then the apostle brings out most important directions for the days that were then coming in, but now come, and more. Questions are before him more serious than a maintenance of order. How are we to walk so as to please the Lord when disorder reigns, claiming to be the only true order? In a measure, no doubt, the truth is in Christendom, and only there; for one cannot look for the truth in Judaism or heathenism now. Judaism had its divine institutions and hopes, but the truth is found in Christendom only: nevertheless in Christendom, who fails to discern Jewish elements and heathenish enormities? How is a man to walk in such a state of things as this? In the former epistle, Timothy was told how to behave in the house of God, as yet in order; but now we are told how to behave in such a state of things as the present disorder. "The foundation of God standeth sure [or, the firm foundation of God standeth], having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name" not of "Christ," but "of the Lord depart from iniquity." I must do so, if I own Him only in the indispensable truth of His Lordship if I own Him simply as the One that has authority over my soul. And a less confession than this God never permitted the church to accept; nor in fact in Jerusalem itself was less ever accepted than the naming the name of the Lord. God had made Jesus to be Lord and Christ, preached Peter on that day of power, when as yet much lay hid, and the great instrument of the revelation of the mystery was still shrouded in the darkness of midnight. But, if one confesses the name of the Lord, the word is imperative: "let him depart from iniquity." The disorder might be so great that we might make mistakes in our anxiety; but "The Lord knoweth them that are his." On the other hand, if a soul confesses the name of the Lord, he must have done with iniquity.

This of itself indicates that the epistle provides for a time when it is no longer simply a question of recognising persons coming out of the world. It is needful to exercise judgment now. One must try disorders and prove profession. Truth and holiness and endurance are wanted, not authority or outward order. Why cannot a man be as simple now as in apostolic times? Why not baptize at once every soul around? It would not be accordant with the mind of God. It is a duty in the present state of confusion to use scriptural means; and here we have our warrant, as in the epistles we find more. Whatever therefore may be right in certain cases, the assembly of God ought never to be forced to put every case on the same dead level ought never to be bound by any special process, as if it were unalterable. The cause of this is the present confusion, and accordingly the apostle brings a picture of it before Timothy's mind.

"In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." That is, it is not enough that I should walk with the Lord individually, but I must clear myself of association with that which is contrary to His name. Such is the meaning of purging himself. It is not the question of discipline dealing With evil ways; but here we are in a state of things where we are in danger of being mixed up with vessels unto the Lord's dishonour. Nothing can sanction this. I am not at liberty of course to leave Christendom, I dare not get out of the great house at all; indeed I cannot (at any rate without becoming an apostate) leave the house of God, however bad its state may be. This is evidently not the true remedy to abandon the confession of Christ: only an apostate could think of it. On the other hand, it is unholy to tamper with evil. Therefore it is incumbent for the Christian to look to this gravely, never to be dragged by the fear of breaking unity into accrediting what dishonours the Lord. Now this is in particular a difficulty for saints, when they have revived before the soul the blessedness of maintaining the unity of the Spirit. It can never cease to be a Christian's duty to maintain the unity of the Spirit; but it is not maintaining the unity of the Spirit to couple with the name of the Lord that which is fleshly and sinful. It is well to be exclusive of sin, but of nothing else. It is well to maintain the largest heart for everything that is really of Christ. But we must exclude that which is contrary to His name; and the very same desire to prove one's love, one's faith, one's appreciation of Christ, will make one anxious not to be dragged into that which is not for His glory. "If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."

But then another thing. He lets Timothy know that while he laid this on others, he must look carefully to his own ways. "Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace." It is not simply now to follow these, as urged in the first epistle (1 Timothy 6:11); but he adds a most characteristic word in the second epistle. And this, I apprehend, is the reason. He forbad his going on in association with those that dishonour the Lord with vessels to dishonour; but he tells him to follow these things "with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart." Therefore, isolation is never desirable, though it may be sometimes necessary. But no man ought to separate himself from the children of God, unless it be a dire necessity for the Lord; it is clearly not according to Christ. It seems to me, I confess, that if there were simplicity of faith, the Lord would give one eyes to see some at least that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.

Thus we have everything cared for here; the state of confusion is clearly depicted, as it then was beginning, and as results have proved yet more. How gracious of the Lord to point out the path for the saint, separate from that which grieves the Lord, yet enjoying all that He sees good for us of the privileges of Christianity! Otherwise this might have seemed to be (what unbelief taunts and stigmatizes it, spite of His sanction) pride of heart and presumption. And the comfort is that, if prepared to cleave to the will of the Lord alone, we shall have, through His grace, fellowship with the true-hearted. "Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And a servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle toward all, apt to teach, forbearing, in meekness correcting those that oppose, if perhaps God may give them repentance for acknowledgment of the truth, and they may for his will wake up out of the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him." This was always the becoming tone; but now it is imperiously necessary, as well as wise and good.

Then in 2 Timothy 3:1-17 he proceeds to show us not merely a picture of the condition that Christianity will fall into, but, besides, a state of things that would be produced by this confusion. Here we find the perilous times fairly brought before us. "Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." Things are very much taking this direction of late, and at the present moment. Take what is called physical Christianity a stupid, gross, and heathenish phrase, but just enough to show where people are drifting to. It answers not a little to the kind of thing ,;et forth here. As we know, there may be over it all a certain form of godliness, but underneath it is really wickedness. This the apostle guards Timothy against, and indeed ourselves, he warns him how seduction would go on more and more, but "from such turn away." No matter what the reasons or excuses for joining with them, "turn away."

Then he points out the two principal guards for the faithful, in such a perilous state. The first is the moral character of the source or channel whence Timothy had derived what he knew. "Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions." It is the whole spiritual experience, so to speak, of the apostle. He was to continue in the things which he had learned, and had been assured of, knowing of whom he had learned them a very important point. Persons sometimes say it does not matter who taught; but God does not treat the matter so lightly. It is often a very great safeguard for the saint of God; for, after all, it makes no small difference who says this or that. A word altogether unbecoming in one mouth might be most proper in another. The apostle well knew that the God who had brought these glorious truths to man, the God that had manifested His grace, had given a witness of their reality in the man from whom he had learned them; and this was meant to have an enduring effect on the conscience and heart of Timothy. For it is not dogma pure and simple, it is not mere instruction; and we may thank God for it. It is an immense blessing that we have the truth not only in a book, but in a practical shape, the truth that comes out of the heart and from the lips of living men of God. Accordingly the apostle reminds Timothy of this.

At the same time there is not the smallest slight of the only and abiding standard. He brings out the infinite value of the Scriptures, that is of what was written, the one transcendent resource for perilous times when we have not the presence and personal help of apostles. It is not merely what had been preached, but what is in a permanent shape for the good of the saints of God here below, which elicits the remarkable assertion of its peculiar worth. "Every scripture" for this is the proper force of the passage "Every scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

The closing chapter (2 Timothy 4:1-22) then gives his solemn charge, and at the same time his own expression of what was before him. As Timothy was about to enter upon a new phase of his ministry, without the apostle's presence or living counsel, the latter charges him with great emphasis, "before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word, be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine." And the reason why he makes it so urgent not to be turned aside was, that the time would come when men would not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they should heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they should turn away their ears from the truth, and should be. turned unto fables. "But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 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." Thus he looks not to the coming of the Lord to receive him to Himself, but to the "appearing of the Lord," which is the usual side of the truth taken in these epistles. The reason is obvious. The coming of the Lord will in no way manifest the faithfulness of the servant; His appearing will. At "that day" will be the display of whatever has been endured, as well as done, for the Lord's sake.

With this prospect he comforts Timothy no less than his own spirit; but at the same time he speaks as to joining him, with a glance at one that had forsaken him. "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me." He was comparatively alone. If he does not hide the sorrowful view of an old fellow-labourer's cooling in zeal, with all its dangers, the consolation is also before Timothy both of those that go on in faithful labour, and of one at least restored. "Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry." So we find that God knows how to temper the bitter with the sweet, always doing the right thing in the right place and time.

Thus he comforts Timothy at the same time that he admonishes him. In the midst of all, he is told to bring the cloak that he left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, but especially the parchments. This again has stumbled the minds of men. They cannot understand an inspired apostle talking about a cloak in the midst of a divinely given pastoral charge. The reason is manifest: they themselves savour of the things of men, and not of God. There is nothing that more shows God than His ability to combine that which is eternal with care for the smallest things of this life. It was not then an indifferent matter to God. The Holy Spirit would make it to be most practical and precious. Be assured, that if you do not bring the Spirit of God into these matters, perhaps your cloak, perhaps a book, will become a snare to you. To many a man and woman has a little bit of dress done no small injury, just because they think it is too little for the Spirit of God to direct them in. "The cloke," then says he, "that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books," not only the clothing, but even that which he is to read, "especially the parchments;" what he was going to write on, probably. "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words."

Finally, we have his assertion of the blessed Lord's care, and his confidence in Him that He would preserve him from all evil to His heavenly kingdom; closing this solemn and touching epistle (it would seem the last words he wrote) with salutations to various saints.