Of immortality by the gospel. the power and grace of Christ, let us all immediately and daily SECT. commit to him that invaluable jewel of an immortal soul, which God hath given us. We may surely survey it with a mixture of delight and terror, till we have thus provided for its safety; and then may that terror be allowed to disappear, and give place to a rational delight, and we may justly congratulate ourselves while we adore our Saviour. Let the proclamation of this gospel be most welcome to us, and let us call up all the strength and vigour of our souls to assert and advance it; for God hath given us the Spirit, not of fear,7 but of courage, sobriety, and charity. Whatever gifts we have received, let us stir them up to their proper use, and let one generation of Christians deliver down to another, a sense 6 of the excellency of their holy religion. Pious women may take encouragement from the success of Lois and Eunice on Timothy, who proved so excellent and useful a minister; as per- 5 haps some of the worthiest and most valuable ministers the church of Christ has ever been able to boast of, have had reason to bless God for those early impressions which were made upon their mind by the religious instructions of persons in the same relations. To conclude, let us learn, by the repeated example of the apostle, to be earnest in prayer for our Christian friends; and 3 if we find our hearts excited to remember them in our prayers day and night, let us with him, return our thanks to God, that he puts such benevolent affections into our hearts; for every good disposition that springs up there is implanted and cherished by him. SECT. II. The Apostle exhorts Timothy strenuously to retain the gospel in the midst of all discouragements and oppositions, and go through the duties of his ministerial office, in dependence upon the grace of God; mentioning the treachery of several Asiatics, and the extraordinary fidelity and zeal of Onesiphorus. 2 Tim. I. 13Chap. II. 7. 2 TIM. 1. 13. HOLD fast the form which thou hast heard 2 TIMOTHY I. 13. ii. of sound words ENCOURAGED by that confidence which I ct. have been expressing in the power and fideof lity of my Lord, to whom I have entrusted the care of my immortal interests and concerns, be 1, 13. thou, O Timothy, engaged resolutely to retain, 2 Tim, 13 14 2 Tim. Paul complains that all the Asiatics had left him. sus. SECT. and exactly to adhere to the form of sound words of me,in faith and love ii. that system of divine and everlasting truths which is in Christ Jewhich thou hast heard of me; keep it, not mere1. 13. ly in thy memory, but in thine heart, with cordial faith, and that sincere, fervent love, which is the great badge of our being in Christ Jesus, and which will finally secure our being owned by him as his true disciples. And as thou 14 That good thing desirest to have the same cheerful confidence, which was committed let it be thy care to keep that good thing which unto thee, keep by the is deposited with thee, even the gospel of Christ dwelleth in us. lodged in thine hands: assert its honours, by the aid of the Holy Spirit which dwelleth in us, and which will, I trust, enable thee to act with that integrity and zeal which so arduous and important a service requires. 14 15 Holy Ghost which 15 This thou know. est, that all they which away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. Thou knowest this, that all those of Asia, who are at Rome, and were known to me by a pro- are in Asia be turned fession of Christianity, are turned from me, and have proved treacherous friends, after all their forward pretences; of which number are Phygellus and Hermogenes; whom it is with great concern that I am obliged particularly to point 16 out on such an occasion, But it is with pro- 16 The Lord give portionable pleasure that I mention another mercy unto the house for person, of a very different character, whose af- of Onesiphorus ; he oft refreshed me, fection and zeal was illustrated by their baseness and was not ashamed and disingenuity. May the Lord grant his mercy of my chain. to his family! I mean to the household of Onesiphorus; for he hath often refreshed me, both by his visits and liberalities, and hath not been ashamed of my chain, Eph. vi. 20; but has rather esteemed it his honour to own me, while I was under disgrace and persecution in so good a cause. 17 But being here in Rome,he sought me out so much the more diligently on that very account, and in Rome, he sought a Form of sound words.] Archbishop Tillotson explains this, of that profession of faith which was made by Christians at their baptism, (Works Vol. II. p. 38.) and the author of Miscellanea Sacra observes, that it is not said that Timothy received this form by immediate inspiration, but heard it of Paul, as according to him, the word of wisdom, was given only to the apostles. Chap. ii. 2; iii. 14; 1 Tim. iii. 15. b That good thing which is deposited.] See the note on ver. 12. c Those in Asia, &c.] The Asiatics were infamous for their cowardice and effeminacy. Paul probably alludes to their when 17 But when he was me behaviour at Rome, (chapter iv. 16,) of which Timothy might have been informed by travellers. But Dr. Whitby refers this to those of Ephesus who had deserted the apostle, giving ear, as he supposes, to the seduction of Cerinthus and the Ebionites, by whom he had been represented as a despiser of the Mosaic law. Nevertheless, I prefer the former interpretation, as evidently more natural. d Phygelius and Hermogenes.] Probably he mentions these two persons as known to Timothy, or as having distinguished themselves by their profession, so that there was particular reason to expect a different conduct from them. e Commit .and found me. He animates Timothy to courage and resolution. ii. 15 me out very diligently, when he had found [me] took every opportunity SECT. of expressing his unfeigned love and veneration for a servant and apostle of Christ in such a 2 Tim. circumstance. The Lord grant unto him that, 1.18. after having enjoyed all the blessings of a long and useful life, he may find mercy of the Lord in that great day, to which our eyes and hopes, as Christians, are continually directed. And on how many occasions he ministered [to me] in Ephesus, thou very well knowest, as thou wert an eye-witness to it, while we were together there. 18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. II. 1. Thou there in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that thou hast heard of nesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able me among many wit to teach others also. I Thou therefore, my dearly beloved son Timo- II. 1 fore, my son, be strong thy, animated by such an example of fidelity and courage, be strong, in humble and continual dependence upon the grace which is in Christ Jesus, and resolve never to be ashamed of any of his faithful servants under disgrace and difficulties, while adhering to his cause. And the 2 things which thou hast heard from me, and which have solemnly testified again and again, before many witnesses, in one place and another, these commit thou with all diligence and care to faithful men, who may be able also to teach others; that so there may be, throughout all ages, a succession of such, who shall deliver them down from one to another, even till the end of time, according to God's gracious purposes in revealing them to us. And especially do thou see 3 to it thyself, that thine own temper and conduct be such as may engage them to fidelity in bearing their testimony. Therefore, as thy lot is cast in a time when we are called to suffer so many severe things for the truth, prepare thyself steadily and resolutely to endure afflictions and hardships, as it becomes a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and one whom he hath honoured with a distinguished rank in his army, that thou mayest marshal and lead on others. And, to pursue the 4 metaphor, remember, that no one who goes out life; that he may please to war entangles himself with secular affairs, but him who hath chosen relinquishes every other calling and employment, that he may please him under whom he is inlisted, and be ready to receive and execute his commands. Accordingly keep thyself as much 3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this him to be a soldier. e Commit to faithful men.] This is quot ed by many, as an argument that the people were not left to chuse their own ministers. But if they did chuse them, or propose as them to Timothy, it might yet be his ap- f Must 16 SECT. ii. Reflections on the duty of ministers to maintain the gospel. as possible disengaged from worldly business, and from every thing which might tend to take off thy thoughts from thy great work, and ren11. 5. der thee less active in thy sacred warfare. 2 Tim. 6 7 And 5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, ex thou also knowest, that if any one wrestles, or Consider the things which I say as matters of 6 The husbandman first partaker of the 7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Chap. ii. 1. IMPROVEMENT. LET us all be exhorted to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and, in humble dependence upon it, let us go forth cheerfully to our work and warfare as Christians. This is a strength so great, and communicated with so rich a freedom, that the Christian minister, under his peculiar difficulties, will find it adequate to them all. Let such particularly apply to themselves the exhortations and consolations which are here given or 13 suggested Let them strenuously retain the form of sound words, which the inspired apostles have delivered, with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. To this orthodoxy of principle, which a due regard to this great and only standard will teach them, let 14 them add orthodoxy of temper. And, as they desire that Christ may keep what they profess to have deposited with him, let them faithfully keep what he has lodged in their hands. And may the { Must first labour.] It was entirely to the apostle's purpose to remind Timothy that the labour of the husbandman must precede the harvest; but whether he was to receive these fruits first was not the point Holy Timothy is exhorted to remember Christ. ii. 17 Holy Spirit dwell in them, to make them faithful in all, and di- SECT. rect them in their efforts to defend the gospel, to spread its influence on the hearts of men, and transmit it from one genera- Chap. tion to another; lodging it with faithful men, who may teach. 2. others, when their teachers and fathers in Christ shall rest from their labours. Such a succession may God continue in his churches; and may he prosper the work of those who are employed in humble and faithful attempts to promote so good a cause, by forming for this important charge those who, like Timothy, have early known the scripture, and felt its power on their hearts. Let such as are setting out in this holy warfare remember the caution which the apostle gives. May they not unnecessarily encumber themselves with secular cares, which would render them 4 less fit to please the great General under whose banner they are inlisted. Let them strive lawfully, if they hope for the crown and cultivating the ground with diligence, let them wait with patience, if they desire at length to reap that blessed harvest. Nor let that general apostacy from the power of religion, which is the shame of the present day, deter them; but rather let it whet their pious zeal to own, with more strenuous attachment, the cause of Christ and of his faithful servants. And when they have done all, may they ever retain an humble sense of their dependence on the Divine mercy and the Lord grant to us all, ministers and people, that we may find it in that great day! SECT. III. Paul further animates Timothy to fidelity, by laying open the motives and hopes which supported him under the difficulties he bore in the defence of the gospel; interspersing several addresses relating to that purity, prudence, and meekness, with which he should endeavour to conduct himself in the ministry. 2 Tim. II. 8-18. 2 TIM. II. S. REMEMBER that Je sus Christ, of the seed of David, was accord 2 TIMOTHY II. 8. iii. 2 Tim. TO animate thee, O Timothy, to all the la- ECT. bours and all the sufferings of the Christian raised from the dead and ministerial life, remember Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah of the seed of David, the great 11. 8. Apostle and High-Priest of our profession, who, after having spent and laid down his life in the prosecution of his great work, was raised from the dead, and at length exalted to the right a Remember Christ who was raised from the dead. Our translators render it, Re hand member that he was raised: as if he bad tion |