1 Timothy 3:14

These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: WRITE I UNTO THEE, HOPING - i:e., 'though I hope to come unto thee' (1 Timothy 4:13). As his hope was not confident (1 Timothy 3:15), he provides for Timothy's lengthened superintendence by the preceding rules to guide him. He now gives general instructions to him as an evangelist having a "gift" (1 Timothy 4:14). SHORTLY, [ tachion (G5032)] - 'sooner,' namely, than is presupposed in the preceding directions. (See 'Introduction.') This verse best suits the theory that this letter was not written afte...

14_These things I write to thee _He holds out to Timothy the hope of his coming, partly in order to encourage him, and partly in order to repress the insolence of those who grew more haughty on account of his absence. And yet he does not make any feigned promise to Timothy, or terrify others through false presence; for he fully expected that he would come, as it is probable that he came, if he wrote this epistle at the time when he passed through Phrygia, as is related by Luke. (Acts 18:23.) Let us look on this as a proof how great was his anxiety for the churches, when he could not endure to delay for a short time a remedy for a present evil. Yet immediately afterwards he adds, that he wrote this epistle for the purpose of informing Timothy, if it should happen that he were delayed longer than he thought....

14-16 The church is the house of God; he dwells there. The church holds forth the Scripture and the doctrine of Christ, as a pillar holds forth a proclamation. When a church ceases to be the pillar and ground of truth, we may and ought to forsake her; for our regard to truth should be first and greatest. The mystery of godliness is Christ. He is God, who was made flesh, and was manifest in the flesh. God was pleased to manifest himself to man, by his own Son taking the nature of man. Though reproached as a sinner, and put to death as a malefactor, Christ was raised again by the Spirit, and so was justified from all the false charges with which he was loaded. Angels ministered to him, for he is the Lord of angels. The Gentiles welcomed the gospel which the Jews rejected. Let us remember that God was manifest in the flesh, to take away our sins, to redeem us from all iniquity, and to puri...

Verse 14. _THESE THINGS WRITE I_] That is: I write _only_ these things; because _I hope to come unto thee shortly_....

THESE THINGS WRITE I UNTO THEE, HOPING TO COME UNTO THEE SHORTLY - That is, he hoped to come there to give instructions personally, or to finish, himself, the work which he had commenced in Ephesus, and which had been interrupted by his being driven so unexpectedly away. This verse proves that the apostle Paul did not regard Timothy as the permanent diocesan bishop of Ephesus. Would any Episcopal bishop write this to another bishop? If Timothy were the permanent prelate of Ephesus, would Paul have intimated that he expected soon to come and take the work of completing the arrangements there into his own hands? In regard to his expectation of going soon to Ephesus, see the notes on 1 Timothy 1:3; compare the Introduction to the Epistle....

EXPOSITION 1 TIMOTHY 3:1 _Faithful is the saying _for _this is a true saying_,_ _A.V.; _seeketh _for _desire_,_ _A.V. FAITHFUL IS THE SAYING (see above, 1 Timothy 1:15, note). This manifestly refers to what follows, not, as Chrysostom and others, and margin of the R.V., to the saying which precedes, in 1 Timothy 2:15. SEEKETH (ὀρέγεται); literally, _stretches out his hands after_._ It _is peculiar in the New Testament to the pastoral Epistles and the Epistle to the Hebrews, though common in classical Greek (see...

THESE THINGS WRITE I UNTO THEE,.... Concerning the offices of bishops and deacons, their several qualifications, and the rules of judging of persons fit for such service: HOPING TO COME UNTO THEE SHORTLY; at Ephesus. He could not tell whether he could come or not, and therefore makes no promise, but hoped he should; and since it was uncertain, he thought fit to write the above things for his instruction and use....

III. CONCERNING THE HOUSE OF GOD CHAPTER 3 _ 1. The overseer (1 Timothy 3:1)_ 2. The deacon (1 Timothy 3:8) 3. The house of God and the mystery of Godliness (1 Timothy 3:14) 1 Timothy 3:1 As stated before, the Church is viewed in these pastoral Epistles as the house of God. The holiness which becomes this house is to be maintained and expressed in a practical way. The different directions given as to overseers and deacons demonstrate what God esteems highly, and what He expects of those who are saved by grace, and who constitute His House. Paul wrote these instructions to his son Timot

(_c_) 1 Timothy 3:14. THE AIM OF THE INSTRUCTIONS. The purpose of such directions, written lest Paul's visit be delayed, is to teach men proper behaviour in God's household (_cf._ Hebrews 3:6), the Church, by which the truth is upheld and protected against error. And how great is that revealed truth with which our religion is entrusted! It is nothing less than Christ Himself (John 14:6; Colossians 1:27), who was manifested in the Incarnation and vindicated by His Resurrection (Romans 1:4), who was made known to angels and men; and whose work received

THE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH (1 Timothy 3:1-7)...