Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2. To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4. Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 6. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.'--2 Tim. 1:1-7.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.'--2 Tim. 3:14-17.
PAUL'S heart had been drawn to Timothy long before this letter was written, as far back as the beginning of his second missionary journey, and Timothy had cherished the enthusiastic devotion of a young man for his great leader. He seems to have been the best beloved of the circle which the magnetism of Paul's character bound to him.
The tone of the two epistles suggests that Timothy needed to be braced up, and have a tonic administered. Probably he inclined to be too much affected by difficulties and opposition, and required the soul-animat-ing strains' which Paul sounded in his ears. Possibly the Apostle's imprisonment and evidently impending death had discouraged and saddened the younger and weaker man. At all events, it is beautiful and pathetic that the words of cheer and brave trust should come from the martyr, and not from the sorrowing friend. Timothy should have been the encourager of Paul, but Paul was the encourager of Timothy.
The verses of this passage embody mainly two counsels. 2 Tim. 1:6 exhorts Timothy to stir up the gift' that was in him; 2 Tim. 3:14 bids him abide in the things which' he has learned. These two--diligent effort to increase his spiritual force and persistent holding by the teaching already received--are based on Paul's knowledge of his faith and on Timothy's knowledge of the saving power of that truth. But Paul loved him too ardently to give him cold counsels. The advices are wrapped in the softest covering of gracious affection and recognition of Timothy's inherited faith and personal devotion to Paul.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.'--2. Tim. 1:7.
THE parts which we should naturally have expected Paul and Timothy to fill are reversed in this letter. Paul the aged,' a prisoner, and soon to be a martyr, might have been expected to receive encouragement and consolation. But Timothy seems to have been of a somewhat weak and timid nature, and this letter of the dying man is one long trumpet-blast to stir his courage. My text is the first of the soul-animating strains' which he blows. In it the Apostle would have his down-hearted young companion and helper remember what God has given him by the laying on of Paul's hands. Whether the word spirit' in my text be regarded as meaning the Divine Spirit which is given, or the human spirit in which that divine gift is received, the qualities enumerated in the text are those which that Divine Giver creates in that human recipient by His indwelling presence; or to put it into shorter words, my text tells us what sort of people Christianity has a tendency to make, and it tells us, too, how it sets about making them.
The enumeration is by no means intended to be either complete or scientific. It is meant to embrace, mainly, the points which Timothy wanted most. And so it dwells predominantly on the stronger, manly virtues,' as men complacently call them. God hath not given us the spirit of cowardice, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind,' which last word does not stand precisely upon a level with the other three, but rather expresses the notion of self-control.
I think I shall best, in the few remarks that I offer you, bring out the meaning of the words before us if I simply follow the Apostle's rough and ready enumeration, and try to learn what he says about each of these points.
I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.'--2 Tim. 1:12.
THERE is some ambiguity in the original words of this text, lying in that clause which is translated in our Bibles--both Authorised and Revised--that which I have committed unto Him."The margin of the Revised Version gives as an alternative reading, that which He hath committed unto me.' To a mere English reader it may be a puzzle how any words whatever could be susceptible of these two different interpretations. But the mystery is solved by the additional note which the same Revised Version gives, which tells us that the Greek is my deposit,' or I might add another synonymous word, my trust.'
Now you can see that my trust' may mean either something with which I trust another, or something with which another trusts me. So the possibility of either rendering arises. It is somewhat difficult to decide between the two. I do not purpose to trouble you with reasons for my preference here. Suffice it to say that, whilst there are strong arguments in favour of the reading that which He has committed unto me,'I am inclined to think that the congruity of the whole representation, and especially the thought that this trust,' whatever it is, is something which God has to keep, rather than which Paul has to keep, shuts us up to the adoption of the rendering which stands in our Bibles.
Adopting it, therefore, though with some hesitation, the next question arises, What is it that Paul committed to God? The answer to that is, himself, in all his complex being, with all his fears and anxieties, during the whole duration of his existence. Fie has done what another Apostle exhorts us to do, committed the keeping of his soul to Him in well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.' Now that was a long past act at the time when Paul wrote this letter. And here he looks back upon life, and sees that all the experiences through which he has passed have but confirmed the faith which he rested in God before the experiences, and that, with the axe and the block almost in sight, he is neither ashamed of his faith, nor dissatisfied with what it has brought him.
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.'--2 Tim. 1:13.
ANY great author or artist passes, in the course of his work, from one manner to another; so that a person familiar with him can date pretty accurately his books or pictures as being in his earlier' or later style. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that there are great differences between Paul's last writings and his previous ones. The surprising thing would have been if there had not been such differences. The peculiarities of the so-called three pastoral Epistles (the two to Timothy, and the one to Titus) are not greater than can fairly be accounted for by advancing years, changed circumstances, and the emergence of new difficulties and enemies.
Amongst them there are certain expressions, very frequent in these letters and wholly unknown in any of Paul's other work. These have been pounced upon as disproving the genuineness of these letters, but they only do so if you assume that a man, when he gets old, must never use any words that he did not use when he was young, whatever new ideas may have come to him. Now, in this text of mine is one of these phrases peculiar to these later letters--sound words.' That phrase and its parallel one, sound doctrine,' occur in all some half-dozen times in these letters, and never anywhere else. The expression has become very common among us. It is more often used than understood; and the popular interpretation of it hides its real meaning and obscures the very important lessons which are to be drawn from the true understanding of it, lessons which, I take leave to think, modern Christianity stands very sorely in need of. I desire now to try to unfold the thoughts and lessons contained in this phrase.
That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.'--2 Tim. 1:14.
THE Apostle has just been expressing his confidence for himself that' God is able to keep that which I have committed' unto him against that day.' Here, with intentional parallelism, he repeats the leading ideas and key-words of that great confidence, but in a wholly different counection. Whether we suppose that the rendering of our version in the twelfth verse is correct or no, there still remains the intentional parallelism between the two verses. In discoursing upon that twelfth verse, I gave reasons for adhering to the translation of our version and regarding the parallel as double. There are two committals. God commits something to us; we commit something to God. But whether that be so or no, there are, at all events, two keepings. God keeps, and we have to keep. And if, on the other hand, in both verses the Apostle speaks of a charge committed to men by God, then the contrasted parallel between the two keepings remains and is even increased, because then it is the same thing which God keeps and which we keep. So the whole connection between man's faithfulness and God's protection is suggested here. The true Christian life in its entirety may either be regarded as God's work or the believer's. We keep ourselves when we let God keep us, and God keeps us by making us able to keep ourselves.
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.'--2 Tim. 2:4.
PAUL had enough to do to infuse some of his own vigour into the feebler nature of Timothy. If we may judge from the prevailing tone of the Apostle's letters to him, his young assistant lacked courage and energy; was easily beaten down, needed tonics for the often infirmities' of his mind as well as of his body. The delicate ingenuity with which this letter accumulates all conceivable encouragements for the drooping heart that was to take up the old lion-heart's nearly finished work, is very beautiful. One topic of encouragement is conspicuous by its absence. There is no rosy painting of the Christian life, or of a Christian teacher's life, as easy or pleasant to flesh and blood. On the contrary, none of Paul's letters give more emphatic utterance to the fact that suffering is the law of both.
That is wise; for the best way to brace people for difficult work and hardship is to tell them fairly what they will have to face, It will act as a filter and Gideon's test, no doubt, but it will only filter out impure matter, and it will evoke latent enthusiasm; for there is always fascination to generous natures or fervent disciples in the thought of danger and toil, undertaken for a beloved cause or favourite pursuit. Boys are made sailors by the stories of wreck and hardship told them to keep them ashore.
So Paul encourages son Timothy' by putting before him all the toil and the peril which are the conditions of the work to which he has set his hand. In this context we have a number of illustrations and analogies, according to all of which self-denial and persistent work are indispensable. The wrestler has not only to brace every limb in his struggle till the muscles stand out like whipcord, but he has to abide by the laws of the arena. The farmer has to exercise long patience, and to labour hard in the field and wild weather, before he can sit down and eat of the fruit of the harvest. The soldier has not only to take his life in hand, but to abandon his civil pursuits and make the pleasure of his commander the law of his life. The diligence of other people in their worldly callings may well put us to shame; and if that is not enough, our own diligence in the one half of our life may shame our laziness in the other. All fire there, and all ice here! Ready for any sacrifice of time and pains in that, grudging every such sacrifice in this!
Our text constitutes the first of that series of illustrative metaphors, each of which adds something of its own to the general idea. In it we have a whole series of striking thoughts suggested, which can be but very imperfectly worked out in the brief space at our disposal.
He abideth faithful: He cannot deny Himself.'--2 Tim. 2:13.
I HAVE chosen this text, not as intending to deal with it only, so much as with the great thought to which it gives such emphatic expression. The faithfulness of God is a familiar enough phrase, but I suspect that the depth and scope of the thought are not as familiar as the words. It is employed in Scripture in many ways, and with many different applications of exhortation and encouragement. Like a prism held at right angles to the light, the thought flashes out different tints according as the rays impinge upon it. It is a favour-ire with Paul. He speaks it in his very first letter, and here, in his last, after a lifetime spent in testing God, he comes back to it. He had proved it in a thousand dangers and struggles, and now, when he has all but done with earth, he sets to his seal that God is true.' But all the other New Testament writers employ the expression likewise, and I have thought that it may be profitable to gather together the various aspects and applications of this great truth in Scripture, and so to draw out, if we may, some of the lofty thoughts and treasures of strength and hope which are shrined in it.
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'--2 Tim. 2:19.
THERE was a great deal in the Apostle Paul's last days to excuse despondency and sadness. For himself he was poor, and a prisoner, lonely and old, looking forward to the near approach of a bloody death. For the gospel and the Church the outlook was black too. Evil had already begun to lift its head, and was threatening to increase. So this, his last letter, is full of gloomy vaticinations, but in it there is none of the pessimism that belongs to old people, none of the despondency which so often seizes upon leaders of thought and action when they come to the end of their lives, and see how little they have done, and how threateningly the clouds are gathering. But throughout, side by side with the clearest perception of evil symptoms and growing dangers, there is unconquerable confidence.
This text is a remarkable illustration of that. He has just been speaking about errors that are threatening to flood the Church, and he speaks with very grave and vehement words. And then all at once with this nevertheless' he, as it were, swings right round, and his whole soul leaps up in the glad confidence that, whatever may happen, and whatever has to be abandoned, and whoever may go away, the foundation of God stands sure.' So he heartens up his young brother Timothy, who seems to have been of a great deal softer stuff than the old man, and bids him be of good cheek and quit himself like a man.
The words of my text, then, seem to me to be very precious to us in regard to the widest interests of Christianity, and in regard to our own individual standing, especially in times like those in which our lot is cast; times of transition, when a great deal going that past generations used to think sacred, and a great many timid people are trembling for the Ark of God; and a great many old people like me are thinking that the old gospel is in danger of passing away from the face of the earth. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure.' So let me just say a word or two about this text.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.'--2 Tim. 2:20-21.
OUR text begins with a but.' It, therefore, suggests something which may seem to contradict or to modify what has gone before. The Apostle has been speaking about what he calls the foundation of God,' or the building founded by God, whereby he means the Church. He has been expressing triumphant confidence that, as thus founded, it is indestructible, whatever dangers may threaten or defections may weaken it. But the very contemplation of that grand ideal suggests darker thoughts. He carries on his metaphor, for the great house' is suggested by the foundation of God,' and yet the two things do not refer to precisely the same object. The building founded by God which stands fast, whatever happens, is what we call in our abstract way, the invisible Church,' the ideal community or aggregate of all who are truly joined to Jesus Christ. The great house is what we call the visible Church, the organisation, institution, or institutions comprising those who profess to be thus joined. The one is indestructible, as founded by God; the other is not, being made by men, and composed of heterogeneous elements.
This heterogeneousness of its elements is suggested by the further metaphor, of the vessels of different materials, value, and use. The members of the Church are the various vessels. When we come down from the heights of ideal contemplation to face the reality of the Church as an organisation in the world, we are confronted with this grave fact, that its members are some of them gold and silver,' some of them wood' and earth.' And that fact modifies the triumphant confidence already uttered, and imposes upon us all very plain duties. So I wish to look now at the three things that are suggested to me here. First, a grave fact as to the actual condition of the Church as an organised institution; second, an inspiring possibility open to us all; and, lastly, a plain direction as to the way by which the possibility may become a reality.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.'--2 Tim. 3:5.
IN this, his last letter and legacy, the Apostle Paul is much occupied with the anticipation of coming evils. It is most natural that the faithful watchman, knowing that the hour of relieving guard was very near at hand, should eagerly scan the horizon in quest of the enemies that might approach when he was no longer there to deal with them. Old men are apt to take a gloomy view of coming days, but the frequent references to the corruptions of the Church which occur in this letter are a great deal more than an old man's pessimism. They were warnings, which were amply vindicated by the history of the post-apostolic age of the Church, which was the seed-bed of all manner of corruptions, and they point to permanent dangers, the warning against which is as needful for us as for any period.
The Apostle draws here' a very dark picture of the corrupt forms of Christianity, the advent of which he tremblingly anticipated. I do not mean to enter at all upon the dark catalogue of the vices which he enumerates, except to point out that its beginning and the middle and the end are very significant. It begins with lovers of self'--that is the root of all forms of sin. In the centre there stands lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God'; and at the end, summing up the whole, are the words of our text, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.'
I do not suppose that these words need much explanation. Godliness,' in the New Testament, means not only the disposition which we call piety, but the conduct which flows from it, and which we may call practical religion. The form or outward appearance of that we all understand. But what is the denying the power thereof?' It does not consist in words, but in deeds. In these latter epistles We find denying' frequently used as equivalent to abjuring, renouncing, casting off. For instance, in a passage singularly and antithetically parallel to that of my text, we read denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,' which simply means throwing off their dominion. And in like manner the denial here is no verbal rejection of the principles of the gospel, which would be inconsistent with the notion of still retaining the form of godliness; but it is the practical renunciation of the power, which is inherent in all true godliness, of moulding the life and character--the practical renunciation of that oven whilst preserving a superficial, unreal appearance of being subject to it.
This, then, being the explanation, and the rough outline of the state of things which the Apostle contemplates as hurrying onwards to corrupt the Church after his departure, let us look at some of the thoughts connected with it.
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; 2. Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. 3. 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; 4. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry … 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 Genthes 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.'-2 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Tim. 4:16-18.
TIMOTHY does not appear to have been a strong man, either in body or mind, if we may judge from the exhortations and tonics which Paul felt it needful to administer in this letter. The young, gentle soul was more overwhelmed by Paul's trial and impending death than the heroic martyr himself was. Nothing shook that steadfast heart, and from the very grave's mouth he spoke brave encouragement.
2 Tim. 4:1-5 are a rousing appeal to Timothy to fulfil his ministry. Embedded in it there is a sad prophecy of coming dark days for the Church, which constitutes, not a reason for despondency or for abandoning the work, but for doing it with all one's might. But the all-powerful motive for every Christian teacher, whether of old or young, is pressed on Timothy in the solemn thoughts that he works in the sight of God and of Jesus, and that he and those to whom he speaks, and whose blood may be laid to his charge, are to see him when he appears, and to stand at his judgment bar.
The master's eye makes diligent servants; the tremendous issues for speaker and hearer suspended on the preaching of the gospel, if they were ever burning before our inward vision, would make superfluous all other motives for straining every nerve and using every opportunity and power. How we should preach and teach and live if the great white throne and He who will sit on it were ever shining before us I Would not that sight burn up slothfulness, cowardice, perfunctory discharge of duty, mechanical repetition of scarcely felt words, and all the other selfishnesses and worldlinesses which sap our earnestness in our work.
The special duties enjoined are, first and foremost, the most general one to preach the word,' which is, indeed, a duty incumbent on all Christians; and then, subordinate to it, and descriptive of how it is to be done, the duty of persevering attention to that greatlife task--be instant'; that is, be at it, be always at it. But is not in season, out of season' an unwise and dangerous precept? Do we not do more harm than good by thrusting gospel teaching down people's throats at unfitting times? No doubt tact and prudence are as needful as zeal, but perhaps they are rather more abundant at present than it, and at a time that looks out of season to a man who does not wish to hear of Christ at any time, or to one who does not wish to speak of Him at any time, may be in season' for the very reason that it seems out of season. Felix is not an infallible judge of a convenient season.' It would do no harm if Christian people obtruded' their religion a little more.
But the general work of preaching the word' is to be accompanied with special care over the life of believers, which is to be active in three closely connected forms. Timothy is, where needful, to' convict' of sin; for so the word rendered reprove' means, as applied to the mission of the Comforter in John 16:8. Rebuke' naturally follows conviction, and exhortation, or, rather, consolation or encouragement, as naturally follows rebuke. If the faithful teacher has sometimes to use the lancet, he must have the balm and the bandage at hand. And this triple ministry is to he with all longsuffering' and teaching.' Chrysostom beautifully comments, Not as in anger, not as in hatred, not as insulting over him, as loving, as sympathising, as more distressed than himself at his grief.' And we may add, as letting the teaching' do the convicting and rebuking, not the teacher's judgment or tongue.
The prospect of dark days coming, which so often saddens the close of a strenuous life for Christ and the Church, shadowed Paul's spirit, and added to his burdens. At Ephesus he had spoken forebodings of grievous wolves' entering in after his death, and now he feels that he will be powerless to check the torrent of corruption, and is eager that, when he is gone, Timothy and others may be wise and brave to cope with the tendencies to turn from the simple truth and to prefer fables.'
The picture which he draws is true to-day. Healthful teaching is distasteful. Men's ears itch, and want to be tickled. The desire of the multitude is to have teachers who will reflect their own opinions and prejudices, who will not go against the grain or rub them the wrong way, who will flatter the mob which calls itself the people, and will keep conviction' and rebuke' well in the background. That is no reason for any Christian teacher's being cast down, but is a reason for his buckling to his work, and not shunning to declare the whole counsel of God.
The true way to front and conquer these evil tendencies is by the display of an unmistakable self-sacrifice in the life, by sobriety in all things and willing endurance of hardship where needful, and by redoubled earnestness in proclaiming the gospel, which men need whether they want it or not, and by filling to the full the sphere of our work, and discharging all its obligations.
The final words in 2 Tim. 4:16-18 carry on the triumphant strain. There had been some previous stage of Paul's trial, in his second imprisonment, of which we have no details except those here--when the Roman Christians and all his friends had deserted him, and that he had thus been conformed unto Christ's sufferings, and tasted the bitterness of friendship failing when needed most. But no trace of bitterness remained in his spirit, and, like his Lord, he prayed for them who had thus deserted him. He was left alone, but the Christ, who had borne his burden alone, died that none of His servants might ever have to know the same dreary solitude, and the absence of other comforters had made the more room, as well as need, for Him.
Paul's predecessor, Stephen, had seen Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Paul had an even more blessed experience; for Jesus stood by him, there in the Roman court, in which, perhaps, the emperor sate on the tribunal. What could terrify him with that Advocate at his side?
But it is beautiful that the Apostle does not first think of his Lord's presence as ministering to his comfort, but as nerving him to fulfil His message.' The trial was to him, first, a crowning opportunity of preaching the gospel, and, no doubt, it gave him an audience of such a sort as he had never had. What did it matter even to himself what became of him, if all the Genthes,' and among them, no doubt, senators, generals, statesmen, and possibly Nero, might hear'? Only as a second result of Christ's help does he add that he was rescued, as from between the very teeth of the lion. The peril was extreme; his position seemed hopeless, the jaws were wide open, and he was held by the sharp fangs, but Christ dragged him out. The true David delivered his lamb out of the lion's mouth.
The past is the prophecy of the future to those that trust in a changeless Christ, who has all the resources of the universe at command. That which hath been is that which shall be,' and he who can say he hath delivered from so great a death' ought to have no hesitation in adding in whom I trust that He will yet deliver me.' That was the use that Paul made of his experience, and so his last words are an utterance of unfaltering faith and a doxology.
There appears to be an interesting echo of the Lord's Prayer in 2 Tim. 4:18. Observe the words deliver,"from evil,' kingdom,' glory.' Was Paul's confidence disappointed? No; for surely he was delivered from every evil work, when the sharp sword struck off his head as he knelt outside the walls of Rome. And Death was Christ's last messenger, sent to save him unto His heavenly kingdom,' that there he might, with loftier words than even he could utter on earth, ascribe to Him' glory for ever. Amen.'
I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.--2 Tim. 4:6-8.
PAUL'S long day's work is nearly done. He is a prisoner in Rome, all but forsaken by his friends, in hourly expectation of another summons before Nero. To appear before him was, he says, like putting his head into the mouth of the lion.' His horizon was darkened by sad anticipations of decaying faith and growing corruptions in the Church. What a road he had travelled since that day when, on the way to Damascus, he saw the living Christ, and heard the words of His mouth!
It had been but a failure of a life, if judged by ordinary standards. He had suffered the loss of all things, had thrown away position and prospects, had exposed himself to sorrows and toils, had been all his days a poor man and solitary, had been hunted, despised, laughed at by Jew and Genthe, worried and badgered even by so-called brethren, loved the less, the more he loved. And now the end is near. A prison and the headsman's sword are the world's wages to its best teacher. When Nero is on the throne, the only possible place for Paul is a dungeon opening on to the scaffold. Better to be the martyr than the Caesar!
These familiar words of our text bring before us a very sweet and wonderful picture of the prisoner, so near his end. How beautifully they show his calm waiting for the last hour and the bright forms which lightened for him the darkness of his cell? Many since have gone to their rest with their hearts stayed on the same thoughts, though their lips could not speak them to our listening ears. Let us be thankful for them, and pray that for ourselves, when we come to that hour, the same quiet heroism and the same sober hope mounting to calm certainty may be ours.
These words refer to the past, the present, the future. I have fought--the time of my departure is come--henceforth there is laid up.'
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world … 11. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.'--2 Tim. 4:10-11.
THIS last of Paul's letters is written, as is generally supposed, in his second imprisonment, and very near his martyrdom. The condition in which it represents him is remarkably contrasted, in several respects, with the conditions of his first imprisonment, as shown in the letters dating from that period. In these--in two of them, at all events--we find him surrounded by troops of friends, among whom the same three names as occur in my text appear as united with him in loyal confidence, and joining with him in greetings to his correspondents. Here they are again, but under what different circumstances! Demas hath forsaken me. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark'--who is also absent--and bring him with thee.' The lonely Apostle has none of the Old Guard around him, except the faithful Luke, and he longs, before he dies, to see once more the familiar faces, and to be ministered to once more by accustomed and tender hands. That touch of humanity brings him very near us.
But what I have chosen my texts for is the sharp contrast which the three prominent names in them present in their attitude to the Apostle--Demas the renegade, Mark the restored runaway, Luke, the ever steadfast and faithful companion. Now of course these three men's relation to Jesus Christ was not identical with their relation to Paul. But at the same time their relation to Paul, one has little doubt, fluctuated with their relation to Jesus. It is scarcelypossible to believe that the first of them would have done so base an act as to abandon the Apostle at the very crisis of his fate, unless his attachment to Jesus had become slender, nor that Mark's love to his Lord had not cooled when he went not with Paul and Barnabas to the work.' I take these three names as representations of three different types of character and spiritual experience, and I wish to look at the three portraits in succession; only I venture to alter the order in which they appear in the text. First, then--
The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly Kingdom: to Him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.'--2 Tim. 4:18.
IF we leave out of notice for a moment the two or three salutations and personal messages which follow, these are the last words of Paul's last letter. So he disappears from history with this ringing cry of confidence upon his lips. There was enough in his circumstances to breed the very opposite disposition. He was half-way through his trial before Nero, and suspense, we all know, gnaws at the very roots of courage. He was all but absolutely certain that death was near, as he had said a minute before: I have finished my course; I have kept the faith; henceforth there is' nothing but the crown to look for. His heart was wrung by the desertion of friends; Demas had forsaken him, and when the pinch of his trial came, and his head was, as it were, in the lion's open mouth, none of his friends plucked up heart of grace to stand beside him. But in spite of all, indomitable courage and a bright flame of hope, that nothing could blow or batter out, burned in the Apostle's heart still. Therefore he says, even while facing the block, the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and preserve me unto His everlasting Kingdom.' He is so sure of this that he brings his thanks beforehand--to whom be glory for ever and ever. The thing is as good as done; and so I render my praise.'
Note here a very striking trace and echo of--
