_Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus._ THE CONNECTION Οὐν points back to the defection of others, contrasting it with what St. Paul is satisfied will prove The faithfulness of Timothy. (_H. R. Reynolds, D. D._) IMITATE THE LOYAL It is as though he said, Imitat... [ Continue Reading ]
_The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses commit to faithful men, able to teach others also._ HOW THE CHURCH IS TO BE CONTINUED I. CARE IS TO BE HAD THAT THE CHURCH MAY BE CONTINUED. Art thou a ruler in Christendom, like Jehosaphat? Send Levites into the dark corners of the land.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Endure hardness as a good soldier._ THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER Every Christian, and especially every Christian minister, may be regarded as a soldier, as an athlete (2 Timothy 2:5). as a husbandman (2 Timothy 2:6); but of the three similitudes the one which fits him best is that of a soldier. Even if... [ Continue Reading ]
_No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life._ ROMAN SOLDIERS were not allowed to marry or to engage in any husbandry or trade; and they were forbidden to act as tutors to any person, or curators to any man’s estate, or proctor in the cause of other men. The general princi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Not crowned, except he strive lawfully._ LAWFUL STRIVING The athlete who competes in the games does not receive a crown, unless he has contended law fully,_ i.e._, according to rule (νομίμως νόμος). Even if he seem to be victorious, he nevertheless is not crowned, because he has violated the wel... [ Continue Reading ]
_The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits._ THE LABORING HUSBANDMAN The order of the Greek shows that the emphatic word is “labours.” It is the labouring husbandman who must be the first to partake of the fruits. It is the man who works hard and with a will, and not the on... [ Continue Reading ]
_Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding._ REFLECTION AIDS DISCERNMENT The better rendering gives, “For the Lord will give thee.” This gives also a better meaning: “Make the effort to reflect; for if thou do, the Lord will give thee the discernment which thou needest.” (_E. H. Pl... [ Continue Reading ]
_Remember that Jesus Christ, of the __SEED OF DAVID, WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD._ “Bear in mind,” the connection seems to be. But, with all its toils and sufferings, the gospel has also its stores of abounding consolation. The remembrance of the risen and victorious Saviour is the comfort and support... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the Word of God is not bound._ “THE WORD OF GOD IS NOT BOUND” The apostle is imprisoned, but his tongue and his companion’s pen are free. He can still teach those who come to him; can still dictate letters for others to Luke and the f... [ Continue Reading ]
_I endure all things for the elect’s sake._ God’s chosen ones, whether already in the Church, or to be called into it afterwards. (_Speaker’s Commentary._) THE VISIBLE CHURCH FOR THE SAKE OF THE ELECT If we were asked what was the object of Christian preaching and instruction, what the office of t... [ Continue Reading ]
_If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him._ UNION WITH CHRIST IN DEATH AND LIFE I. The first branch of this “faithful saying” is, “If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.” There seem to be two ways chiefly in which the soul “is dead with Christ.” If we look at the operation... [ Continue Reading ]
_If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful._ FAITHLESS “If we are faithless”--that is, untrue to the vows of our Christian profession, the faithlessness implies more than mere unbelief in any of the fundamental doctrines of the faith, such as the resurrection of the Lord or His divinity. (_H. D.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Put them in remembrance._ REPETITION I. Repetition of the same things is warrantable. 1. For at the first delivery of a thing we may not fully apprehend it; the eye of our mind is but opened by degrees. 2. Our faith by often repetition may be confirmed. 3. It is a help to cause the truth in th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Study to show thyself approved unto God._ APPROVED The word which he uses (σπουδάζειν)_ is _one which scarcely occurs in the New Testament, except in the writings of St. Paul. And the corresponding substantive is also much more common in his Epistles than it is elsewhere. It indicates that ceasel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shun profane and vain babblings._ SHUN The word rendered “shun” is a strong one, and signifies, literally, to make a circuit so as to avoid; or as Alford paraphrases it, “the meaning seems to come from a number of persons falling back from an object of fear or loathing, and standing at a distance... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their word will eat as doth a canker._ GANGRENE The substitution of “gangrene” for “cancer” is an improvement, as giving the exact word used in the original, which expresses the meaning more forcibly than “cancer.” Cancer is sometimes very slow in its ravages, and may go on for years without caus... [ Continue Reading ]
_Saying that the resurrection is past already._ ERROR CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION The resurrection of the body, always a difficulty in ancient modes of thought, was especially so to those who, with the Essenes amongst the Jews, the Neo-Platonicians, and most of the early sects which afterwards expa... [ Continue Reading ]
_The foundation of God standeth sure._ NEVERTHELESS We should give full force to the μέντοι. If the spirit of the apostle was perturbed with vain babblings, or cruel mortification, or the spread of plausible or perilous theories, he required to fall back upon great and deep principles. (_H. R. Re... [ Continue Reading ]