Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Timothy 4:19

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 19. Salute Prisca and Aquila — Several MSS., versions, and fathers have Priscilla instead of Prisca: they are probably the same as those mentioned Acts 18:18; Acts 18:26.

The household of Onesiphorus. — See 2 Timothy 1:16. Onesiphorus was probably at this time dead: his family still remained at Ephesus.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

4:6-22 PAUL’S LAST FAREWELL

Knowing that he has faithfully carried out the work God entrusted to him, Paul faces execution with confidence. He looks beyond death to the full enjoyment of salvation that will be experienced by all whose love for Jesus is the controlling force in their lives (6-8).
Before he dies, Paul would like Timothy to come and visit him. He is disappointed that Demas has preferred the safety and comfort of ordinary life to the danger and hardship of life with Paul. Others have left Rome because of urgent needs in distant places (9-10). Paul has valuable help and comfort from Luke. He desires also that Mark come to Rome with Timothy, and that on the way they call at Troas to collect the books and warm clothing that Paul had left with Carpus. Tychicus will provide some help in Ephesus while Timothy is absent on his trip to Rome (11-13).
Paul warns Timothy to beware of Alexander, a person who did him much harm, possibly as a prosecution witness (14-15). After his arrest, when the Roman authorities laid charges against him, Paul had stood alone. No one was willing to witness for him in his defence. But God did not fail him, and gave him the opportunity to proclaim the gospel fully to all present. Because God was with him, he was neither attacked nor silenced (16-17). He is therefore confident that God will remain with him through whatever lies ahead and bring him safely into his heavenly kingdom (18).

Among the Christian friends whom Paul greets in Ephesus are Priscilla and Aquila, the Jewish couple who were among the first to take the gospel to Ephesus. They had now returned to Ephesus after their second period of residence in Rome, and were no doubt of help to Timothy in his difficult task (19a; cf. Acts 18:1-4,Acts 18:18-26; Romans 16:3). Another who could help Timothy was Onesiphorus, who was apparently back in Ephesus after his visit to Paul in Rome (19b; cf. 1:16-18). Erastus and Trophimus could not yet help Timothy, as they were temporarily in other parts (20).

Some of the local Christians in Rome, though unable to stay with Paul, visited him occasionally. They join in sending greetings to Timothy. With a final note urging Timothy to come with all speed, Paul signs off for the last time (21-22).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus.

Prisca and Aquila … This wonderful couple had saved Paul's life, putting the whole world of Gentile churches in their debt; and both in this list and in Romans 16:3, Paul mentioned them above all others. For discussion of their relationship with Paul see my Commentary on Romans, 511,512.

The house of Onesiphorus … Comment on this Christian friend of Paul's will be found above, under 2 Timothy 1:17. It is not known whether or not he had perished, or if he had been sent on some mission. There is no reason to suppose that Paul gave any complete account of all that was going on. If Onesiphorus was, like Paul, awaiting trial, it might have damaged his case if Paul had mentioned him.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Salute Prisca and Aquila - Prisca, or Priscilla, was the wife of Aquila, though her name is sometimes mentioned first. In regard to their history, see the notes at Romans 16:3. They were at Rome when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans, but afterward went into Asia Minor, which was the native place of Aquila Acts 18:2, and where they probably died.

And the household of Onesiphorus; - see the notes on 2 Timothy 1:16.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 4

Paul said to Timothy,

I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ ( 2 Timothy 4:1 ),

Hey, that's heavy duty, man, when you charge a person before God and before the Lord Jesus Christ. Laying a charge now on Timothy.

The Lord Jesus Christ,

who shall judge the quick and the dead ( 2 Timothy 4:1 )

Now the quick is an old English word, it means alive. Someone said in L.A. traffic there are two kinds: the quick and the dead. But the word means alive.

The Lord is going to judge those that are alive and those that are dead

at his appearing and his kingdom ( 2 Timothy 4:1 );

Now there will be two judgments. The one at His coming, His appearing, will be the judgment of those who have lived through the great tribulation period. The first thing that Jesus does when He comes again, according to Matthew's gospel is He gathers together the nations for judgment and He will separate them as a shepherd separates his sheep from his goats. And He'll put on His left hand and He said, you know, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I was hungry and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty; you didn't give me anything to drink. I was naked, you didn't clothe me. I was, you know, sick and you didn't visit me. In prison, you didn't visit. Lord, when did we see you this way? Well, inasmuch as you did not do it to the least of these, you didn't do it to me.

To those on His right hand, come ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundations of the world. For when I was hungry, you fed me. Lord, when did we see you like that? Well, inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these, you did it to me. But the judgment, which will determine those who will be allowed to go into the Kingdom Age when Jesus is going to reign upon the earth for a thousand years; after the thousand years reign, then He will judge the dead. And all of the dead, small and great, will stand before the great white throne of God and they will be judged out of the things that are written in the books.

So I charge you before God and before the Lord Jesus Christ, who is going to judge the alive and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom, the two judgments. What does He charge Him?

Preach the word ( 2 Timothy 4:2 );

Why? Because it is the word of God that can change man. It is the word of God that can inspire really the, well, bring the changes, can cleanse a man. So preach the word.

Oh, isn't it a shame that there is so little preaching of the Word of God today in the pulpits across the country? All kinds of preaching of psychology and all other kinds of things, but so little preaching of the word. "I charge you before God and before Jesus Christ, Timothy, preach the word." Paul said, "We preach not ourselves, but Christ crucified; and ourselves his ministers for your sake" ( 2 Corinthians 4:5 ). His servants. Preach the word.

And then he said,

be instant in season, and out of season ( 2 Timothy 4:2 );

In other words, be ready to go. Sometimes you feel like it, sometimes you don't. Ready to go.

reprove ( 2 Timothy 4:2 ),

The word of God is profitable for reproof.

rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine ( 2 Timothy 4:2 ).

Now Paul is emphasizing here, "Preach the word", and get the people indoctrinated in the basic foundational truths of God. "Preach the word".

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables ( 2 Timothy 4:3-4 ).

You know, it is an interesting thing how that the Word of God seems to create an appetite for the Word of God, and it seems to spoil you for anything else. The Word of God is so exciting. There is so much there. It is so powerful, so dynamic that when you really are being taught the Word, and you really get into the meat, you begin to grow and be strengthened. You just can't be satisfied with these little, you know, beautiful days and butterflies and sparrow sermons, you know, everything is pleasant and the world is great.

So the time will come though, if the person doesn't have a diet of the Word of God, they get itching ears. Oh, he tells the greatest jokes, you know, man, the guy's a great storyteller and people have itching ears. They want to be entertained and churches have become really entertainment centers. I mean, they put on shows that will make Hollywood jealous. They want to be entertained. Itching ears desiring entertainment, turning their ears away from the truth and it opens them up to be gullible to listen to fables.

But watch thou in all things, and endure afflictions, and do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry ( 2 Timothy 4:5 ).

Now Paul was an apostle by the will of God but he was also a pastor and a teacher. Timothy had the calling of an evangelist. Paul is encouraging him to preach and to do the work of an evangelist. Now it is important to know what area of ministry God has gifted you and called you to fulfill and that you be what God has called you to be, and not attempt to be something that God hasn't made you. Because the most difficult and frustrating thing in the world is to try to be an evangelist if God has made you a pastor-teacher or to try and be a pastor-teacher if God has made you an evangelist. You know, we've got to make our calling and election sure. We've got to know what God has called us to be.

The first sixteen years or so of my ministry was totally frustrating, as I sought to be Chuck an evangelist by the will of God. God didn't call me to be an evangelist. And my endeavors to do so were just totally frustrating and unfruitful. It was not until I really acknowledged and came to the realization that God had called me as a pastor-teacher that the ministry began to be blessed, because now it's natural, now it's not forced. Now I can be what God has called me to be, comfortable with it, loving it.

So to Timothy, "do the work of an evangelist, and make full proof of your ministry." So important that we make full proof of that ministry.

For [Paul said] I am now ready to be offered, the time of my departure is at hand ( 2 Timothy 4:6 ).

Things were going bad for Paul in Rome. The trial is not looking good. He's appeared for his preliminary hearings and he's heard the charges and he has seen the attitude of the Roman government at this point, and Paul realizes his days are numbered. This is the last letter that Paul wrote, his letter, second epistle to Timothy, and he realizes that the handwriting is on the wall. "The time of my departure is at hand." You see, with Paul he looked at death as only a departure on his journey. I'm going to move in a short while from this tent into a mansion. "The building of God, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" ( 2 Corinthians 5:1 ). The time of my departure is at hand.

And then Paul said,

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ( 2 Timothy 4:7 ):

Oh what an important thing to say when the time of departure gets close. And I look back at my life and I can say, Well, I fought a good fight. I gave up, you know, all I had and I have finished the course. Earlier Paul had written to the Philippians and he said, "I have not yet apprehended that for which I was apprehended of Jesus Christ, neither do I count myself perfect: but this is what I'm doing, forgetting those things which are behind, I'm pressing towards those things which are before, as I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus" ( Philippians 3:12-14 ). He saw the Christian life as a race.

He said, don't you realize "that they which run in a race run all, but only one receives the prize? So run, that you might obtain" ( 1 Corinthians 9:24 ). I've fought a good fight. I've been in there. I have finished now my course and I have kept the faith.

So,

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, our righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all of them also that love his appearing ( 2 Timothy 4:8 ).

We are told to wait for His appearing, to look for His appearing, and now Paul speaks about loving His appearing. The crown of righteousness, Jesus said to the church of Smyrna, "Be thou faithful unto death, I will give thee a crown of life" ( Revelation 2:10 ). The various crowns of heaven, that crown of righteousness. The Lord our righteous judge shall give, not to me only but all those that love His appearing.

So do thy diligence to come shortly unto me ( 2 Timothy 4:9 ):

Hey, get here quick. I'm about to leave. Time of my departure is at hand. So hurry, get here as quick as you can.

For Demas has forsaken me ( 2 Timothy 4:10 ),

Now Demas was joined with Paul in other of the salutations of his previous epistles, but Paul had said earlier that all of those of Asia had forsaken him. Actually, it probably would have meant their own death had they associated with Paul at this point of the trial, for he was a prisoner condemned to die and their association with him now would endanger their own lives. "So Demas has forsaken me." Tragic because of the reason,

having loved the present world, and is departed to Thessalonica ( 2 Timothy 4:10 );

In other words, for his own skin, you know, wants to live on so he's departed to Thessalonica.

Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. So take Mark ( 2 Timothy 4:10-11 ),

This is the Mark that was a nephew to Barnabas who created a fight between Paul and Barnabas earlier. When Paul and Barnabas left on their first missionary journey, Mark went with them, but when they had passed through Cyprus and were heading over to some rough country, Mark got scared and went home and Paul and Barnabas went on alone.

Now as Paul and Barnabas were getting ready to take their second missionary journey, to go back into the same areas to strengthen the brethren that had been converted in their first journey, Barnabas said, Well, I want to take Mark with me again. And Paul said, Oh no, kid defected the last time, I don't want to take him again. I don't want problems. And so a big argument arose between Paul and Barnabas. The contention was so great that Barnabas took Mark and headed on out for Cyprus and Paul took Silas and headed on back into Asia Minor again.

It is interesting now, though you know within the Christian body we can have differences and we have disagreements, but the Lord always brings us back. And now Paul writes of this same Mark that he had problems with earlier, wouldn't go along with Barnabas who wanted to take him.

And he says to Timothy, "Take Mark,"

and bring him with you: for he is profitable to me for the ministry ( 2 Timothy 4:11 ).

I like that young man. Of course, Mark had matured a lot by now, no doubt. Several years had gone by, but Paul speaks about him in loving terms as being profitable unto him and all.

And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus. The cloak ( 2 Timothy 4:12-13 )

Now Paul's dealing with just some, you know, very personal kind of things but, "the cloak"

that I left at Troas with Carpus, when you come, bring it with you, and also my books, but especially bring the parchments ( 2 Timothy 4:13 ).

Paul, it is said, was an avid reader. In fact, history, Gamaliel, Paul said he sat under the feet of Gamaliel, and we have an account of Gamaliel talking about Paul as a student. And as he spoke of Paul as a student, he said the biggest trouble I had with him as a student was supplying him with enough books. An avid reader, that is why when Paul was making his defense before King Agrippa, Festus cried out, Your much learning has made you mad. Paul had been there reading for two solid years in prison in Caesarea, and every time he saw him, Paul was buried in a book. And he said, hey, you studied too much, you flipped. You went one over the edge. Your much learning has made you mad.

So bring me the books, bring me the parch, especially those parchments, you know. You know I think that that's something about a teacher that you have a thirst and you'll never stop.

Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works ( 2 Timothy 4:14 ):

That's interesting, isn't it? Pray for those, the Lord said, who despitefully use you but I don't know that He intended you to pray that way.

Of whom be thou wary also ( 2 Timothy 4:15 );

Watch out for that Alexander the coppersmith.

for he has greatly withstood our words. Now at my first hearing no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray that God will not lay that to their charge ( 2 Timothy 4:15-16 ).

Interesting, Paul was totally forsaken by all of his friends. At his first hearing before Nero, they all left him. When Paul, one of his first exposures to Christianity was the stoning of Stephen that is recorded in the Bible. The first time we find Paul, he is standing there holding the coats of the men who were stoning Stephen to death. He just heard Stephen's tremendous witness before the Sanhedrin, of which he was a member. They voted, Stone him. Paul voted, Yes, stone him, you know, he voted consenting to his death. He voted with them to stone him and then he participated by holding the coats of the men who did the actual stoning of Stephen.

While Stephen was being stoned, you remember that he looked up and he said, Father, lay not this sin to their charge. Don't charge them with this one. That evidently made a pretty heavy impression upon Paul. Because later when the Lord got hold of Paul on his way to Damascus, hey, it's been hard to kick against the pricks, you know, I'm sure that that whole thing with Stephen was still in his mind and on his heart. Seeing this guy die in such a way as, Lord, into your hands I commend my spirit. Don't charge them with this sin, Lord. Rather than cursing and screaming and all at, those who were, you know, stoning him, this beautiful attitude of love and forgiveness.

Now Paul is more or less emulating that as he talks about these fellows who forsook him. Lord, I hope that the Lord doesn't charge them with that one.

Notwithstanding ( 2 Timothy 4:17 )

And this I love. All of the men forsook me but nevertheless,

the Lord stood with me ( 2 Timothy 4:17 ),

And that's all I need. The Lord stood with me.

and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion ( 2 Timothy 4:17 ).

Or Nero. He calls him the lion. Or perhaps he could be referring to, you know, being put in the arena with the lions, but I just thought that he's referring, it was cryptic for Nero.

Now notice this, "Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear". You see what happened is that when Paul stood before Nero; he just took opportunity to preach the Gospel to Nero. I mean, what a great opportunity. I've got to make my defense before this guy and so, but that was Paul's tactic all the way along. Whenever Paul was arrested and had to appear before the judges, or later before King Agrippa, he always used that opportunity to witness and try to win them to Jesus Christ.

Now Jesus said to His disciples, You're going to be persecuted and they're going to arrest you and they're going to take you before the magistrates, and you're going to stand before kings. But don't take any forethought what you're going to say, for in that hour the Spirit will give you the words that you should say and it will turn to you as an opportunity to testify.

In other words, you're going to be, you know, arrested, brought to court and all, hey, don't worry about it. It's going to be an opportunity for you to testify, to share your faith. And so Paul took every appearance before the judges and all as the opportunity to testify until he was laying such a heavy witness on Agrippa, King Agrippa. He said, Agrippa, do you believe the scriptures? I know you believe the scriptures. Agrippa said, Wait a minute. Hold on here. You mean you're trying to convert me? And Paul said, Oh, I wish I could. He really was. He was trying to convert him.

Now Paul doesn't nor does Luke give us an account of what Paul said to Nero, but you can be sure he laid on Nero one of the, he no doubt figured, boy, if I could win this guy to Christ, think of what good it would do for Christianity, if Nero could be won to Christ. And I'm sure he laid on this guy a testimony like you can't believe. And he said, they all forsook me but "the Lord stood with me". The Holy Spirit will give you the words in that hour. And He strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known. I mean, he laid the full witness on him and that all the Gentiles might hear. The whole court of Nero heard the Gospel. "And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion."

And the Lord shall deliver me ( 2 Timothy 4:18 )

Oh yes, He sure did. His head was whacked off and he escaped from Nero. Because Jesus said, "Don't fear them that have the power to kill the body, but after that have no more power: but rather fear him who after the body is killed is able to cast your spirit into hell" ( Matthew 10:28 ).

Yeah, I tell you, fear ye him. So I'm going to be delivered, Paul says. I know God's going to deliver me. And Paul knew exactly how because he said "the time of my departure is at hand" ( 2 Timothy 4:6 ). I'm going. The Lord is going to deliver me. I think it is wrong when we think that deliverance only comes through healing. God has many ways of delivering us. "And the Lord shall deliver me"

from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom ( 2 Timothy 4:18 ):

The world might take my life away but man, I'm going to be preserved in the heavenly kingdom.

to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute Prisca and Aquila ( 2 Timothy 4:18-19 ),

Now here they are again, still in Ephesus, and Paul is so bound to Priscilla and Aquila. Met them first in Corinth. And then they went with him or they went before him to Ephesus. And they were with him in his ministry there and a couple of people that I am anxious to meet, Priscilla and Aquila. Salute them, greet them.

and also the household of Onesiphorus ( 2 Timothy 4:19 ).

Now it is thought that maybe he was killed also in Rome. He looked Paul up, sought for him diligently, found him in a dungeon but it is thought that maybe because of his relationship with Paul, he was slain because he doesn't greet him but only his household. And there are some accounts that he was actually killed because of his relationship to Paul.

Erastus stayed at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum [which is Malta] and he was sick. Now do your diligence to come before winter. And Eubulus greets you, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia ( 2 Timothy 4:20-21 ),

Now, with Pudens and Claudia, couple of interesting names.

and all the brethren ( 2 Timothy 4:21 ).

Oh, I don't have time to go into the story but there are some interesting stories behind Claudia who is thought to have been a princess from the British Isles. And there are some interesting stories in the early church concerning this Claudia. And it's, that she is the same Claudia of course, is not known. But in the early church in Rome, there was a Claudia that had become converted. She was a princess from Britain and had been sent to Mary, one of the Roman leaders, as a part of the treaty and all and was converted to Christ there in Rome and became a very powerful figure in the church.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen ( 2 Timothy 4:22 ).

So Paul's last letter to Timothy and the last letter that he wrote.

May the Lord richly bless you as the Word of God is now assimilated into your life and you begin to apply it in your daily experiences, that the Word of God might have a purifying effect upon your life this week. Even as Jesus said, "Now you are clean through the word that I have spoken unto you" ( John 15:3 ). May you find the Word of God guiding you in the way of righteousness, being profitable to you in leading you in that path of righteousness, that God would have you to run.

May the Lord be with you and strengthen you in the various tests and trials that you'll be facing this week, and cause you to be victorious, more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ. "

Contending for the Faith

WORKS CITED

Thayer, Joseph H., D.D. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon. Grand Rapids, Michigan: AP & A, n.d. The page number in Thayer is given and the column on the page follows the dash. For example, page 37-1 means the reference is on page 37 and in column 1.

Clarke, Adam. Commentary and Critical Notes. Vol. 2. New York: Abingdon Press, n.d.

Ellicott, Charles John. Commentary on the Whole Bible. Vol. 8. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1959.

Jamieson, Robert, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown. A Commentary on the Whole Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1961.

Johnson, B.W. People’s New Testament With Notes. Nashville, Tennessee: Gospel Advocate, 1951.

MacKnight, James. MacKnight on the Epistles. One-Volume Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1984.

Thayer, Joseph Henry. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. New York: American Book Co., 1886.

Vine, W.E. A Dictionary of New Testament Words. Iowa Falls, Iowa: World Bible Publishers, 1981.

Contending for the Faith

Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

Prisca and Aquila: Paul had known and loved this couple for fifteen years. He met them in Corinth where they apparently came after being driven, with all Jews, from Rome by Claudius (Acts 18:2). They became Paul’s co-workers in Corinth and supported his work and preached on their own in a number of cities on the Mediterranean coast. They apparently returned to Rome after the death of Claudius and before Paul came, for in Paul’s Roman letter, written about four years before his first imprisonment, he greeted them (Romans 16:3). Now they have gone--whether at Paul’s direction we do not know--to Ephesus.

the household of Onesiphorus: This greeting to the "household" of Onesiphorus may imply that Paul’s dear friend, who had sought him diligently in Rome (2 Timothy 1:16), is now dead.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

V. CONCLUDING PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION 4:9-22

Paul concluded his last inspired epistle by giving Timothy personal instructions and information to enable him to carry out the apostle’s last wishes.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Paul sent greetings to his old friends Prisca (Priscilla) and Aquila who then lived in Ephesus (cf. Acts 18:2; Acts 18:18; Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19). He also greeted the loyal family of Onesiphorus of whom he had written earlier (2 Timothy 1:16).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

C. Additional greetings and instructions 4:19-21

Barclay's Daily Study Bible

Chapter 4

PAUL'S GROUNDS OF APPEAL ( 2 Timothy 4:1-5 )

4:1-5 I charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead--I charge you by his appearing and by his Kingdom--herald forth the word; be urgent in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, exhort, and do it all with a patience and a teaching which never fail. For there will come a time when men will refuse to listen to sound teaching, but, because they have ears which have to be continually titillated with novelties, they will bury themselves under a mound of teachers, whose teaching suits their own lusts after forbidden things. They will avert their cars from the truth, and they will turn to extravagant tales. As for you, be steady in all things; accept the suffering which will come upon you; do the work of an evangelist; leave no act of your service unfulfilled.

As Paul comes to the end of his letter, he wishes to nerve and to challenge Timothy to his task. To do so he reminds him of three things concerning Jesus.

(i) Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead. Some day Timothy's work will be tested, and that by none other than Jesus himself. A Christian must do every task in such a way that he can offer it to Christ. He is not concerned with either the criticism or the verdict of men. The one thing he covets is the "Well done!" of Jesus Christ. If we all did our work in that spirit, the difference would be incalculable. It would save us from the touchy spirit which is offended by criticism; it would save us from the self-important spirit which is concerned with personal rights and personal prestige; it would save us from the self-centred spirit which demands thanks and praise for its every act; it would even save us from being hurt by men's ingratitude.

(ii) Jesus is the returning conqueror. "I charge you," says Paul, "by his appearing." The word is epiphaneia ( G2015) . Epiphaneia was used in two special ways. It was used for the manifest intervention of some god; and it was specially used in connection with the Roman Emperor. His accession to the throne was his epiphaneia ( G2015) ; and in particular--and this is the background of Paul's thought here--it was used of his visit to any province or town. Obviously when the Emperor was due to visit any place, everything was put in perfect order. The streets were swept and garnished and all work was brought up-to-date so that the town might be fit for epiphaneia ( G2015) . So Paul says to Timothy: "You know what happens when any town is expecting the epiphaneia ( G2015) of the Emperor; you are expecting the epiphaneia ( G2015) of Jesus Christ. Do your work in such a way that all things will be ready whenever he appears." The Christian should so order life that at any moment he is ready for the coming of Christ.

(iii) Jesus is King. Paul urges Timothy to action by the remembrance of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The day comes when the kingdoms of the world will be the Kingdom of the Lord; and so Paul says to Timothy: "So live and work that you will rank high in the roll of its citizens when the Kingdom comes."

Our work must be such that it will stand the scrutiny of Christ. Our lives must be such that they will welcome the appearance of the King. Our service must be such that it will demonstrate the reality of our citizenship of the Kingdom of God.

THE CHRISTIAN'S DUTY ( 2 Timothy 4:1-5 continued)

There can be few New Testament passages where the duties of the Christian teacher are more clearly set out than here.

The Christian teacher is to be urgent. The message he brings is literally a matter of life and death. The teachers who really get their message across are those who have the note of earnestness in their voice. Spurgeon had a real admiration for Martineau, who was a Unitarian and therefore denied the divinity of Jesus Christ which Spurgeon believed in with passionate intensity. Someone once said to Spurgeon: "How can you possibly admire Martineau? You don't believe what he preaches." "No," said Spurgeon, "but he does." Any man with the note of urgency in his voice demands, and will receive, a hearing from other men.

The Christian teacher is to be persistent. He is to urge the claims of Christ "in season and out of season." As someone has put it: "Take or make your opportunity." As Theodore of Mospeuestia put it: "The Christian must count every time an opportunity to speak for Christ." It was said of George Morrison of Wellington Church in Glasgow that with him wherever the conversation started, it went straight across country to Christ. This does not mean that we will not choose our time to speak, for there should be courtesy in evangelism as in every other human contact; but it does mean that perhaps we are far too shy in speaking to others about Jesus Christ.

Paul goes on to speak of the effect the Christian witness must produce.

He must convict. He must make the sinner aware of his sin. Walter Bagehot once said: "The road to perfection lies through a series of disgusts." Somehow or other the sinner must be made to feel disgusted with his sin. Epictetus draws a contrast between the false philosopher, who is out for popularity, and the real philosopher, whose one aim is the good of his hearers. The false philosopher deals in flattery and panders to self-esteem. The real philosopher says: "Come and be told that you are in a bad way." "The philosopher's lecture," he said, "is a surgery; when you go away you ought to have felt not pleasure, but pain." It was Alcibiades, the brilliant but spoiled darling of Athens, who used to say to Socrates: "Socrates, I hate you, because every time I meet you, you make me see what I am." The first essential is to compel a man to see himself as he is.

He must rebuke. In the great days of the Church there was an utter fearlessness in its voice; and because of that things happened. E. F. Brown tells of an incident from India. A certain young nobleman in the Viceroy's suite in Calcutta became notorious for his profligacy. Bishop Wilson one day put on his robes, drove to Government House, and said to the Viceroy: "Your excellency, if Lord ______ does not leave Calcutta before next Sunday, I shall denounce him from the pulpit in the Cathedral." Before Sunday came that young man was gone.

Ambrose of Milan was one of the great figures of the early Church. He was an intimate friend of Theodosius, the Emperor, who was a Christian, but a man of violent temper. Ambrose never hesitated to tell the Emperor the truth. "Who," he demanded, "will dare to tell you the truth if a priest does not dare?" Theodosius had appointed one of his close friends, Botherich, as governor of Thessalonica. Botherich, a good governor, had occasion to imprison a famous charioteer for infamous conduct. The popularity of these charioteers was incredible and the populace rose in a riot and murdered Botherich. Theodosius was mad with anger. Ambrose pled with him for discrimination in punishment, but Rufinus, his minister of state, deliberately inflamed his anger and Theodosius sent out orders for a massacre of vengeance. Later he countermanded the order, but too late for the new order to reach Thessalonica in time. The theatre was crammed to capacity with the doors shut, and the soldiers of Theodosius went to and fro slaughtering men, women and children for three hours. More than seven thousand people were killed. News of the massacre came back to Milan and when Theodosius presented himself at the Church service the next Sunday, Ambrose refused him admission. The Emperor pled for pardon. Eight months passed and again he came to Church. Again Ambrose refused him entry. In the end the Emperor of Rome had to lie prostrate on the ground with the penitents before he was allowed to worship with the Church again. In its great days the Church was fearless in rebuke.

In our personal relationships a word of warning and rebuke would often save a brother from sin and shipwreck. But, as someone has said, that word must always be spoken as "brother setting brother right." It must be spoken with a consciousness of our common guilt. It is not our place to set ourselves up as moral judges of anyone; nonetheless it is our duty to speak that warning word when it needs to be spoken.

He must exhort. Here is the other side of the matter. No rebuke should ever be such that it drives a man to despair and takes the heart and the hope out of him. Not only must men be rebuked, they must also be encouraged.

Further, the Christian duty of conviction, of rebuke and of encouragement, must be carried out with unwearied patience. The word is makrothumia ( G3115) , and it describes the spirit which never grows irritated, never despairs and never regards any man as beyond salvation. The Christian patiently believes in men because he unconquerably believes in the changing power of Christ.

FOOLISH LISTENERS ( 2 Timothy 4:1-5 continued)

Paul goes on to describe the foolish listeners. He warns Timothy that the day is coming when men will refuse to listen to sound teaching and will collect teachers who will titillate their ears with precisely the easy-going, comfortable things they want to hear.

In Timothy's day it was tragically easy to find such teachers. They were called sophists (compare G4680) and wandered from city to city, offering to teach anything for pay. Isocrates said of them: "They try to attract pupils by low fees and big promises." They were prepared to teach the whole of virtue or L15 or L20. They would teach a man to argue subtly and to use words cleverly until he could make the worse appear the better reason. Plato described them savagely: "Hunters after young men of wealth and position, with sham education as their bait, and a fee for their object, making money by a scientific use of quibbles in private conversation, while quite aware that what they are teaching is wrong."

They competed for customers. Dio Chrysostom wrote of them: "You might hear many poor wretches of sophists shouting and abusing one another, and their disciples, as they call them, squabbling, and many writers of books reading their stupid compositions, and many poets singing their poems, and many jugglers exhibiting their marvels, and many soothsayers giving the meaning of prodigies, and ten thousand rhetoricians twisting lawsuits, and no small number of traders driving their several trades."

Men in the days of Timothy were beset by false teachers hawking round sham knowledge. Their deliberate policy was to find arguments whereby a man could justify himself for doing what he wanted to do. Any teacher, to this day, whose teaching tends to make men think less of sin is a menace to Christianity and to mankind.

In contradistinction to that, certain duties are to be laid on Timothy.

He is to be steady in all things. The word (nephein, G3525) means that he is to be sober and self-contained, like an athlete who has his passions and his appetites and his nerves well under control. Hort says that the word describes "a mental state free from all perturbations or stupefactions...every faculty at full command, to look all facts and all considerations deliberately in the face." The Christian is not to be the victim of crazes; stability is his badge in an unbalanced and often insane world.

He is to accept whatever suffering comes upon him. Christianity will cost something, and the Christian is to pay the price of it without grumbling and without regret.

He is to do the work of an evangelist. In spite of the conviction and the rebuke the Christian is essentially the bringer of good news. If he insists on discipline and self-denial, it is that an even greater happiness may be attained than ever cheap pleasures can bring.

He is to leave no act of service unfulfilled. The Christian should have only one ambition--to be of use to the Church of which he is a part and the society in which he lives. The chance he dare not miss is not that of a cheap profit but that of being of service to his God, his Church and his fellow-men.

PAUL COMES TO THE END ( 2 Timothy 4:6-8 )

4:6-8 For my life has reached the point when it must be sacrificed, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight: I have completed the course: I have kept the faith. As for what remains, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which on that day the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me--and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

For Paul the end is very near and he knows it. When Erasmus was growing old, he said: "I am a veteran, and have earned my discharge, and must leave the fighting to younger men." Paul, the aged warrior, is laying down his arms that Timothy may take them up.

No passage in the New Testament is more full of vivid pictures than this.

"My life," says Paul, "has reached the point where it must be sacrificed." The word he uses for sacrifice is the verb spendesthai ( G4689) which literally means to pour out as a libation to the gods. Every Roman meal ended with a kind of sacrifice. A cup of wine was taken and was poured out (spendesthai, G4689) to the gods. It is as if Paul were saying: "The day is ended; it is time to rise and go; and my life must be poured out as a sacrifice to God." He did not think of himself as going to be executed; he thought of himself as going to offer his life to God. Ever since his conversion, he had offered everything to God--his money, his scholarship, his time, the vigour of his body, the acuteness of his mind, the devotion of his heart. Only life itself was left to offer, and gladly he was going to lay it down.

He goes on to say: "The time of my departure is at hand." The word (analusis, G359) he uses for departure is a vivid one. It has many a picture in it and each tells us something about leaving this life. (a) It is the word for unyoking an animal from the shafts of the cart or the plough. Death to Paul was rest from toil. As Spenser had it, ease after toil, port after stormy seas, death after life, are lovely things. (b) It is the word for loosening bonds or fetters. Death for Paul was a release. He was to exchange the confines of a Roman prison for the glorious liberty of the courts of heaven. (c) It is the word for loosening the ropes of a tent. For Paul it was time to strike camp again. Many a journey he had made across the roads of Asia Minor and of Europe. Now he was setting out on his last and greatest journey; he was taking the road that led to God. (d) It is the word for loosening the mooring-ropes of a ship. Many a time Paul had felt his ship leave the harbour for the deep waters. Now he is to launch out into the greatest deep of all, setting sail to cross the waters of death to arrive in the haven of eternity.

So then, for the Christian, death is laying down the burden in order to rest; it is laying aside the shackles in order to be free; it is striking camp in order to take up residence in the heavenly places; it is casting off the ropes which bind us to this world in order to set sail on the voyage which ends in the presence of God. Who then shall fear it?

THE JOY OF THE WELL-FOUGHT CONTEST ( 2 Timothy 4:6-8 continued)

Paul goes on, still speaking in these vivid pictures of which he was such a master: "I have fought the good fight: I have completed the race: I have kept the faith." It is likely that he is not using different pictures from three different spheres of life, but one picture from the games.

(i) "I have fought the good fight." The word he uses for fight is agon ( G73) , which is the word for a contest in the arena. When an athlete can really say that he has done his best, then, win or lose, there is a deep satisfaction in his heart. Paul has come to the end, and he knows that he has put up a good show. When his mother died, Barrie made a great claim. "I can look back," he said, "and I cannot see the smallest thing undone." There is no satisfaction in all the world like knowing that we have done our best.

(ii) "I have finished the race." It is easy to begin but hard to finish. The one thing necessary for life is staying-power, and that is what so many people lack. It was suggested to a certain very famous man that his biography should be written while he was still alive. He absolutely refused to give permission, and his reason was: "I have seen so many men fall out on the last lap." It is easy to wreck a noble life or a fine record by some closing folly. But it was Paul's claim that he had finished the race. There is a deep satisfaction in reaching the goal.

Perhaps the world's most famous race is the marathon. The Battle of Marathon was one of the decisive battles of the world. In it the Greeks met the Persians, and, if the Persians had conquered, the glory that was Greece would never have flowered upon the world. Against fearful odds the Greeks won the victory, and, after the battle, a Greek soldier ran all the way, day and night, to Athens with the news. Straight to the magistrates he ran. "Rejoice," he gasped, "we have conquered," and even as he delivered his message he fell dead. He had completed his course and done his work, and there is no finer way for any man to die.

(iii) "I have kept the faith." This phrase can have more than one meaning. If we are to keep the background of the games, it is this. The great games in Greece were the Olympics. To these came all the greatest athletes in the world. On the day before the games all the competitors met and took a solemn oath before the gods that they had done not less than ten months training and that they would not resort to any trickery to win. So Paul may be saying: "I have kept the rules: I have played the game." It would be a great thing to die knowing that we had never transgressed the rules of honour in the race of life.

But this phrase may have other meanings. It is also a business phrase. It was the regular Greek for: "I have kept the conditions of the contract; I have been true to my engagement." If Paul used it in that way, he meant that he had engaged himself to serve Christ and had stood by that engagement and never let his Master down. Further, it could mean: "I have kept my faith: I have never lost my confidence and my hope." If Paul used it in that way, he meant that through thick and thin, in freedom and in imprisonment, in all his perils by land and sea, and now in the very face of death, he had never lost his trust in Jesus Christ.

Paul goes on to say there is laid up for him the crown. In the games the greatest prize was the laurel wreath. With it the victor was crowned; and to wear it was the greatest honour which could come to any athlete. But this crown in a few short days would wither. Paul knew that there awaited him a crown which would never fade.

In this moment Paul is turning from the verdict of men to the verdict of God. He knew that in a very short time he would stand before the Roman judgment seat and that his trial could have only one end. He knew what Nero's verdict would be, but he also knew what God's verdict would be. The man whose life is dedicated to Christ is indifferent to the verdict of men. He cares not if they condemn him so long as he hears his Master's "Well done!"

Paul sounds still another note--this crown awaits not only him but all who wait with expectation for the coming of the King. It is as if he said to the young Timothy: "Timothy, my end is near: and I know that I go to my reward. If you follow in my steps, you will feel the same confidence and the same joy when the end comes to you." The joy of Paul is open to every man who also fights that fight and finishes the race and keeps the faith.

A ROLL OF HONOUR AND DISHONOUR ( 2 Timothy 4:9-15 )

4:9-15 Do your best to come and see me soon. Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Take Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful in service. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

Paul draws up a roll of honour and of dishonour of his friends. Some are only names to us; of some, as we read the Acts and the Epistles, we get little revealing glimpses. Some of the stories, if we are allowed to use our imagination, we can reconstruct.

The Spiritual Pilgrimage Of Demas

First on the list comes Demas. There are three mentions of him in Paul's letters; and it may well be that they hake in them the story of a tragedy. (i) In Philemon 1:24 he is listed amongst a group of men whom Paul calls his fellow-labourers. (ii) In Colossians 4:14 he is mentioned without any comment at all. (iii) Here he has forsaken Paul because he loved this present world. First, Demas the fellow-labourer, then, just Demas, and, finally, Demas the deserter who loved the world. Here is the history of a spiritual degeneration. Bit by bit the fellow-labourer has become the deserter; the title of honour has become the name of shame.

What happened to Demas? That we cannot tell for sure, but we can guess.

(i) It may be that he had begun to follow Christ without first counting the cost; and it may be that he was not altogether to blame. There is a kind of evangelism which proclaims: "Accept Christ and you will have rest and peace and joy." There is a sense, the deepest of all senses, in which that is profoundly and blessedly true. But it is also true that when we accept Christ our troubles begin. Up to this time we have lived in conformity with the world and its standards. Because of that life was easy, because we followed the line of least resistance and went with the crowd. But once a man accepts Christ, he accepts an entirely new set of standards and is committed to an entirely new kind of life at his work, in his personal relationships, in his pleasures, and there are bound to be collisions. It may be that Demas was swept into the Church in a moment of emotion without ever thinking things out; and then when unpopularity, persecution, the necessity of sacrifice, loneliness, imprisonment came, he quit because he had never bargained for anything like that. When a man undertakes to follow Christ, the first essential is that he should know what he is doing.

(ii) It may be that there came to Demas the inevitable weariness of the years. They have a way of taking our ideals away, of lowering our standards, of accustoming us to defeat.

Halliday Sutherland tells how he felt when he first qualified as a doctor. If on the street or in any company there came the call: "Is there a doctor here?" he thrilled to it, proud and eager to step forward and help. But as the years went on, a request like that became a nuisance. The thrill was gone.

W. H. Davies, the tramp who was also one of the greatest poets, has a revealing passage about himself. He had walked to see Tintern Abbey which he had last seen twenty-seven years ago. He says: "As I stood there now, twenty-seven years after, and compared that young boy's enthusiasm with my present lukewarm feelings, I was not very well pleased with myself. For instance, at that time I would sacrifice both food and sleep to see anything wonderful; but now in my prime I did not go seeking things of beauty, and only sang of things that came my way by chance."

Dean Inge had a sermon on Psalms 91:6 --"the destruction that wastes at noonday," which he called "The Peril of Middle Age." There is no threat so dangerous as the threat of the years to a man's ideals; and it can be kept at bay only by living constantly in the presence of Jesus Christ.

(iii) Paul said of Demas that "he loved this present world." His trouble may have been quite simple, and yet very terrible. It may simply be that he loved comfort more than he loved Christ, that he loved the easy way more than he loved the way which led first to a cross and then to the stars.

We think of Demas, not to condemn, but to sympathize, for so many of us are like him.

It is just possible that this is neither the beginning nor the end of the story of Demas. The name Demas is a shortened and familiar form of Demetrius and twice we come upon a Demetrius in the New Testament story. There was a Demetrius who led the riot of the silversmiths at Ephesus and wished to lynch Paul because he had taken their temple trade away ( Acts 19:25). There was a Demetrius of whom John wrote that he had a good report of all and of the truth itself, a fact to which John bore willing and decisive witness ( 3 John 1:12). May this be the beginning and the end of the story? Did Demetrius the silversmith find something about Paul and Christ which twined itself round his heart? Did the hostile leader of the riot become the convert to Christ? Did he for a time fall away from the Christian way and become Demas, the deserter, who loved this present world? And did the grace of God lay hands on him again, and bring him back, and make him the Demetrius of Ephesus of whom John wrote that he was a servant of the truth of whom all spoke well? That we will never know, but it is a lovely thing to think that the charge of being a deserter may not have been the final verdict on the life of Demas.

A ROLL OF HONOUR AND DISHONOUR ( 2 Timothy 4:9-15 continued)

The Gentile Of Whom All Spoke Well

After Paul has spoken of the man who was the deserter, he goes on to speak of the man who was faithful unto death. "Luke alone is with me," he says. We know very little about Luke, and yet even from that little he emerges as one of the loveliest characters in the New Testament.

(i) One thing we know by implication--Luke accompanied Paul on his last journey to Rome and to prison. He was the writer of the Book of Acts. Now there are certain passages of Acts which are written in the first person plural and we can be quite sure that Luke is here describing occasions on which he himself was actually present. Acts 27:1-44 describes Paul setting out under arrest for Rome and the story is told in the first person. Therefore we can be sure that Luke was there. From that we deduce something else. It is thought that when an arrested prisoner was on his way to trial at Rome, he was allowed to be accompanied by only two slaves, and it is therefore probable that Luke enrolled himself as Paul's slave in order to be allowed to accompany him to Rome and to prison. Little wonder that Paul speaks of him with love in his voice. Surely devotion could go no farther.

(ii) There are only two other definite references to Luke in the New Testament. In Colossians 4:14 he is described as the beloved physician. Paul owed much to Luke. All his life he had the torturing thorn in his flesh; and Luke must have been the man who used his skill to ease his pain and enable him to go on. Luke was essentially a man who was kind. He does not seem to have been a great evangelist; he was the man who made his contribution in terms of personal service. God had given him healing skill in his hands, and Luke gave back that skill to God. Kindness is the quality which lifts a man out of the luck of ordinary men. Eloquence will be forgotten; mental cleverness may live on the printed page; but kindness lives on enthroned in the hearts of men.

Dr. Johnson had certain contacts with a young man called Harry Hervey. Hervey was rich and more than something of a rake. But he had a London house where Johnson was always welcome. Years later Harry Hervey was being unkindly discussed. Johnson said seriously: "He was a vicious man, but very kind to me. If you call a dog Hervey, I shall love him." Kindness covered a multitude of sins.

Luke was loyal and Luke was kind.

(iii) The other definite reference to Luke is in Philemon 1:24; where Paul calls him his fellow-labourer. Luke was not content only to write nor to confine himself to his job as a doctor; he set his hand to the work. The Church is full of talkers and of people who are there more for what they can get than for what they can give; Luke was one of these priceless people--the workers of the Church.

(iv) There is one other possible reference to Luke in the New Testament. 2 Corinthians 8:18 speaks of "the brother who is famous among all the Churches." From the earliest times that brother has been identified with Luke. He was the man of whom all men spoke well. He was the man who was loyal unto death; he was the man who was essentially kind; he was the man who was dedicated to the work. Such a man will always be one of whom all speak well.

A ROLL OF HONOUR AND DISHONOUR ( 2 Timothy 4:9-15 continued)

There is still another name with an untold, yet thrilling, story behind it in this roll.

The Man Who Redeemed Himself

Paul urges Timothy to bring Mark with him "for he is profitable to me for the ministry." The word ministry is not used in its narrower sense of the ministry of the Church but in its wider sense of service. "Bring Mark," says Paul, "for he is very useful in service." As E. F. Scott puts it; "Bring Mark, for he can turn his hand to anything." Or, as we might put it in our own everyday language: "Bring Mark, for he is a useful man to have about the place."

Mark had a curiously chequered career. He was very young when the Church began, but he lived at the very centre of its life. It was to the house of Mary, Mark's mother, that Peter turned his steps when he escaped from prison, and we may take it that this house was the central meeting place of the Jerusalem Church ( Acts 12:12).

When Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey they took Mark with them--John Mark was his full name--to be their assistant ( Acts 13:5). It looked as if he was earmarked for a great career in the company of Paul and in the service of the Church. Then something happened. When Paul and Barnabas left Pamphylia and struck inland on the hard and dangerous road that led to the central plateau of Asia Minor, Mark left them and went home ( Acts 13:13). His nerve failed him, and he turned back.

Paul took that defection very hard. When he set out with Barnabas on their second missionary journey, Barnabas--he was related to Mark ( Colossians 4:10) --planned to take Mark with them again. But Paul absolutely refused to have the quitter a second time, and so fierce was the argument and so acute the difference that Paul and Barnabas split company and never, so far as we know, worked together again ( Acts 15:36-40). So then, there was a time when Paul had no use for Mark, when he looked on him as a spineless deserter and completely refused to have him on his staff.

What happened to Mark after that we do not know. Tradition has it that he went to Egypt and that he was the founder of the Christian Church in that country. But, whatever he did, he certainly redeemed himself. When Paul comes to write Colossians from his Roman prison, Mark is with him, and Paul commends him to the Colossian Church and charges them to receive him. And now, when the end is near, the one man Paul wants, besides his beloved Timothy, is Mark, for he is a useful man to have about. The quitter has become the man who can turn his hand to anything in the service of Paul and of the gospel.

Fosdick has a sermon with the great and uplifting title, "No man need stay the way he is." Mark is proof of that. He is our encouragement and our inspiration, for he was the man who failed and yet made good. Still to this day Jesus Christ can make the coward spirit brave and nerve the feeble arm for fight. He can release the sleeping hero in the soul of every man. He can turn the shame of failure into the joy of triumphant service.

A ROLL OF HONOUR AND DISHONOUR ( 2 Timothy 4:9-15 continued)

Helpers And A Hinderer And A Last Request

So the list of names goes on. Of Crescens we know nothing at all. Titus was another of Paul's most faithful lieutenants. "My true child," Paul calls him ( Titus 1:4). When the trouble with the Church at Corinth had been worrying him, Titus had been one of Paul's emissaries in the struggle to mend things ( 2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:6; 2 Corinthians 7:13; 2 Corinthians 12:18). Tychicus had been entrusted with the delivery of the letter to the Colossians ( Colossians 4:7), and of the letter to the Ephesians ( Ephesians 6:21). The little group of helpers was being dispersed throughout the Church, for even if Paul was in prison the work had still to go on, and Paul must go lonely that his scattered people might be strengthened and guided and comforted.

Then comes the mention of a man who had hindered instead of helping: "Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm." We do not know what Alexander had done; but perhaps we can deduce it. The word that Paul uses for did me much evil is the Greek endeiknumi ( G1731) . That verb literally means to display, and was in fact often used for the laying of information against a man. Informers were one of the great curses of Rome at this time. And it may well be that Alexander was a renegade Christian, who went to the magistrates with false information against Paul, seeking to ruin him in the most dishonourable way.

Paul has certain personal requests to make. He wants the cloak he had left behind at the house of Carpus in Troas. The cloak (phainole) was a great circular rug-like garment. It had a hole for the head in the middle and it covered a man like a little tent, reaching right down to the ground. It was a garment for the winter time and no doubt Paul was feeling his Roman prison cold.

He wants the books; the word is biblia ( G975) , which literally means papyrus rolls; and it may well be that these rolls contained the earliest forms of the gospels. He wanted the parchments. They could be one of two things. They might be Paul's necessary legal documents, especially his certificate of Roman citizenship; but more likely they were copies of the Hebrew Scriptures, for the Hebrews wrote their sacred books on parchment made from the skins of animals. It was the word of Jesus and the word of God that Paul wanted most of all, when he lay in prison awaiting death.

Sometimes history has a strange way of repeating itself. Fifteen hundred years later William Tyndale was lying in prison in Vilvorde, waiting for death because he had dared to give the people the Bible in their own language. It is a cold damp winter, and he writes to a friend: "Send me, for Jesus' sake, a warmer cap, something to patch my leggings, a woollen shirt, and above all my Hebrew Bible." When they were up against it and the chill breath of death was on them, the great ones wanted more than anything else the word of God to put strength and courage into their souls.

LAST WORDS AND GREETINGS ( 2 Timothy 4:16-22 )

4:16-22 At my first defense no one was there to stand by me, but all forsook me. May it not be reckoned against them! But the Lord stood beside me, and he strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation of the gospel was fully made so that the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the mouth of the lion. The Lord will rescue me from every evil, and will save me for his heavenly kingdom. Glory be to him for ever and ever. Amen.

A Roman trial began with a preliminary examination to formulate the precise charge against the prisoner. When Paul was brought to that preliminary examination, not one of his friends stood by him. It was too dangerous to proclaim oneself the friend of a man on trial for his life.

One of the curious things about this passage is the number of reminiscences of Psalms 22:1-31. "Why hast thou forsaken me?--all forsook me." "There is none to help--no one was there to stand by me." "Save me from the mouth of the lion--I was rescued from the mouth of the lion." "All the ends of the earth shall turn to the Lord--that the Gentiles might hear it." "Dominion belongs to the Lord--The Lord will save me for his heavenly kingdom." It seems certain that the words of this psalm were running in Paul's mind. And the lovely thing is that this was the psalm which was in the mind of Jesus when he hung upon his Cross. As Paul faced death, he encouraged his heart with the same psalm as his Lord used in the same circumstances.

Three things brought Paul courage in that lonely hour.

(i) All men had forsaken him but the Lord was with him. Jesus had said that he would never leave his own or forsake them and that he would be with them to the end of the world. Paul is a witness that Jesus kept his promise. If to do the right means to be alone, as Joan of Arc said, "It is better to be alone with God."

(ii) Paul would use even a Roman court to proclaim the message of Christ. He obeyed his own commandment; in season and out of season he pressed the claims of Christ on men. He was so busy thinking of the task of preaching that he forgot the danger. A man who is immersed in his task has conquered fear.

(iii) He was quite certain of the ultimate rescue. In time he might seem to be the victim of circumstances and a criminal condemned at the bar of Roman justice; but Paul saw beyond time and knew that his eternal safety was assured. It is always better to be in danger for a moment and safe for eternity, than to be safe for a moment and jeopardize eternity.

A HIDDEN ROMANCE? ( 2 Timothy 4:16-22 continued)

Finally there come greetings sent and given. There is a greeting to Priscilla and Aquila, that husband and wife whose home was ever a church, wherever it might be, and who had at some time risked their lives for Paul's sake ( Acts 18:2; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19). There is a greeting to the gallant Onesiphorus, who had sought out Paul in prison in Rome ( 2 Timothy 1:16) and who, it may be, had paid for his loyalty with his life. There is a greeting to Erastus, whom once Paul sent as his emissary to Macedonia ( Acts 19:22), and who, it may be, was afterwards within the Church at Rome ( Romans 16:23). There is a greeting to Trophimus, whom Paul had been accused of bringing into the Temple precincts in Jerusalem, although a Gentile, an incident for which Paul's last imprisonment began ( Acts 20:4; Acts 21:29). Finally there are greetings from Linus, Pudens and Claudia. In the later lists Linus stands as the first bishop of Rome.

Around the names of Pudens and Claudia a romance has been woven. The story may be impossible, or at least improbable, but it is too interesting not to quote. Martial was a famous Roman poet, a writer of epigrams, who flourished from A.D. 66 to A.D. 100. Two of his epigrams celebrate the marriage of a highborn and distinguished Roman called Pudens to a lady called Claudia. In the second of them Claudia is called a stranger in Rome, and it is said that she came from Britain. Now Tacitus tells us that in A.D. 52, in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, certain territories in south-east Britain were given to a British king called Cogidubnus, for his loyalty to Rome; and in 1723 a marble tablet was dug up in Chichester which commemorates the erection of a heathen temple by Cogidubnus, the king, and by Pudens, his son. In the inscription the full name of the king is given and, no doubt in honour of the Roman Emperor, we find that the British king had taken the name of Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus. If that king had a daughter her name must have been Claudia, for that is the name that she would take from her father. We can carry the story further. It may be that Cogidubnus would send his daughter Claudia to stay in Rome. That he should do so would be almost certain, for when a foreign king entered into an alliance with Rome, as Cogidubnus had done, some members of his family were always sent to Rome as pledges of keeping the agreement. If Claudia went to Rome, she would certainly stay in the house of a Roman called Aulus Plautius, who had been the governor in Britain from A.D. 43-52, and to whom Cogidubnus had rendered his faithful service. The wife of Aulus Plautius was a lady called Pomponia, and we learn from Tacitus that she had been arraigned before the Roman courts in A.D. 57 because she was "tainted with a foreign superstition." That "foreign superstition" may well have been Christianity. Pomponia may have been a Christian, and from her Claudia, the British princess, may have learned of Jesus also.

We cannot say whether the guesses in that story are true. But it would be wonderful to think that this Claudia was actually a British princess who had come to stay in Rome and become a Christian, and that Pudens was her husband.

Paul comes to the end by commending his friends to the presence and the Spirit of his Lord and theirs, and, as always, his last word is grace.

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

FURTHER READING

Timothy

D. Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles (TC; E)

W. Lock, The Pastoral Epistles (ICC; G)

E. F. Scott, The Pastoral Epistles (MC; E)

E. K. Simpson, The Pastoral Epistles

Abbreviations

CGT: Cambridge Greek Testament

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)

Gann's Commentary on the Bible

2 Timothy 4:19

Salute = greet

Prisca and Aquila = Romans 16:3, Paul’s dear friends now back at Ephesus.

Household of Onesiphorus = 2 Timothy 1:17 Whether he was still living or not we don’t know, or even if he were a Christians, but we suspect he was. (see notes on 2 Timothy 1:15-18)

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Salute Prisca and Aquila,.... The same with Priscilla and Aquila: and so the Complutensian edition, and some copies, read here; who were of the same occupation with the apostle, and with whom he wrought at Corinth, and whom he left at Ephesus; and who seem by this salutation to have continued there, Acts 18:2.

And the household of Onesiphorus: who also lived at Ephesus, and whose kindness to the apostle, when he was at Rome, is before mentioned, 2 Timothy 1:16.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.   17 Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.   18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.   19 Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.   20 Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.   21 Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.   22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.

      Here, I. He gives Timothy an account of his own present circumstances.

      1. He had lately been called to appear before the emperor, upon his appeal to Cæsar; and then no man stood with him (2 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 4:16), to plead his cause, to bear testimony for him, or so much as to keep him in countenance, but all men forsook him. This was strange, that so good a man as Paul should have nobody to own him, even at Rome, where there were many Christians, whose faith was spoken of throughout the world, Romans 1:8. But men are but men. The Christians at Rome were forward to go and meet him (Acts 28:1-31); but when it came to the pinch, and they would be in danger of suffering with him, then they all forsook him. He prays that God would not lay it to their charge, intimating that it was a great fault, and God might justly be angry with them, but he prays God to forgive them. See what a distinction is put between sins of presumption and sins of infirmity. Alexander the coppersmith, who maliciously withstood Paul, he prays against: The Lord reward him according to his works; but respecting these Christians, who through weakness shrunk from Paul in time of trial, he says, The Lord lay it not to their charge. Observe, (1.) Paul had his trials in his friends' forsaking him in a time of danger as well as in the opposition made by enemies: all forsook him. (2.) It was their sin not to appear for the good apostle, especially at his first answer; but it was a sin of weakness, and therefore the more excusable. Yet, (3.) God might lay it to their charge, but Paul endeavours to prevent it by his earnest prayers: Let it not be laid to their charge.

      2. Notwithstanding this God stood by him (2 Timothy 4:17; 2 Timothy 4:17), gave him extraordinary wisdom and courage, to enable him to speak so much the better himself. When he had nobody to keep him in countenance, God made his face to shine.--That by me the preaching might be fully known, that is, "God brought me out from that difficulty that I might preach the gospel, which is my business." Nay, it should seem, that he might preach the gospel at that time; for Paul knew how to preach at the bar as well as in the pulpit. And that all the Gentiles might hear; the emperor himself and the great men who would never have heard Paul preach if he had not been brought before them. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, that is, of Nero (as some think) or some other judge. Some understand it only as a proverbial form of speech, to signify that he was in imminent danger. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work. See how Paul improved his experiences: "He that delivered doth deliver, and we trust he will yet deliver, will deliver me from every evil work, from any ill done to me by others. And shall preserve me to his heavenly kingdom." And for this he gives glory to God, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. Observe, (1.) If the Lord stand by us, he will strengthen us, in a time of difficulty and danger, and his presence will more than supply every one's absence. (2.) When the Lord preserves his servants from great and imminent danger, it is for eminent work and service. Paul was preserved that by him the preaching might be fully known, c. (3.) Former deliverances should encourage future hopes. (4.) There is a heavenly kingdom, to which the Lord will preserve his faithful witnessing or suffering servants. (5.) We ought to give God the glory of all past, present, and future deliverances: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

      II. He sends salutations to Aquila, and Priscilla, and the household of Onesiphorus,2 Timothy 4:19; 2 Timothy 4:19. He mentions his leaving Trophimus sick at Miletum (2 Timothy 4:20; 2 Timothy 4:20), by which it appears that though the apostles healed all manner of diseases miraculously, for the confirmation of their doctrine, yet they did not exert that power upon their own friends, lest it should have looked like a collusion.

      III. He hastens Timothy to come to him before winter (2 Timothy 4:21; 2 Timothy 4:21), because he longed to see him, and because in the winter the journey or voyage would be more dangerous.

      IV. He sends commendations to him from Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. One of the heathen writers at this time mentions one Pudens and his wife Claudia, and says the Claudia was a Briton, whence some have gathered that it was this Pudens, and that Claudia here was his wife, and that they were eminent Christians at Rome.

      V. He concludes with a prayer, that the Lord Jesus would be with his spirit. We need no more to make us happy than to have the Lord Jesus Christ with our spirits; for in him all spiritual blessings are summed up. And it is the best prayer we can put up for our friends, that the Lord Jesus Christ may be with their spirits, to sanctify and save them, and at last to receive them to himself; as Stephen the proto-martyr prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,Acts 7:59. "Lord Jesus, receive that spirit which thou hast been with while it was united to the body; do not now leave it in its separate state." Grace be with you. Amen. This was our apostle's token in every epistle; so he wrote. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen,2 Thessalonians 3:17; 2 Thessalonians 3:18. And if grace be with us here to convert and change us, to make us holy, to keep us humble, and to enable us to persevere to the end, glory will crown us hereafter: for the Lord is a sun, and a shield; the Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from those that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee,Psalms 84:11; Psalms 84:12. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God our Saviour, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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.