Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1 The connection H. R. Reynolds, D. D. ??? 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. )

Benson Commentary 2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 2:1-2 . Thou therefore, my son — Animated by the example of fidelity and courage manifested by Onesiphorus; be strong — ????????? , be encouraged and strengthened, in a firm reliance on the grace that is in Jesus — And which he is always ready to communicate to all that pray for and expect it. And the things — The wholesome doctrine, ( 2 Timothy 1:13 ,) that thou hast heard of me — To which I have often borne solemn testimony; among many witnesses — See 1 Timothy 6:12 . By these many witnesses, he seems to have meant the elders, deacons, and others, present when Timothy was set apart to the sacred office of the ministry, and received a solemn charge from the apostle to execute his trust faithfully. The same commit thou — With great seriousness, care, and diligence, before thou leavest Ephesus; to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others — After thou art gone: that the truth may be continued, in an uninterrupted succession of such persons, who shall hand it down from one to another throughout all ages, even till the end of time. 2 Timothy 2:2 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. 2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3-7 . Thou therefore endure hardness — ??????????? , literally, endure evil; that is, expect persecutions and various sufferings, and, by the powerful aids of divine grace, endure them with courage, constancy, and patience; as a good soldier of Jesus Christ — Who endured much greater afflictions in the days of his flesh, and hath thereby shown all who engage to fight under his banner, and would approve themselves his faithful soldiers, that they must expect to meet with various hardships and sufferings, and in what spirit they must sustain them, that they may war a good warfare, and prove victorious. No man that warreth entangleth himself — any more than is unavoidable, in the affairs of this life — With any other business or employment; that — Minding war only; he may please him who hath chosen him, &c. — Namely, his captain or general. In this and the next verse, there is a plain allusion to the Roman law of arms, and to that of the Grecian games. According to the former, no soldier, at least no legionary soldier, (as Grotius has here shown,) was suffered to engage in any civil occupation, such as agriculture, merchandise, mechanical employments, or any business which might divert him from his profession. According to the latter, no one could be crowned as conqueror who did not keep strictly to the rules of the game. The apostle, by applying these things to the ministers of the gospel, hath shown that all who undertake the office of the ministry should, on the one hand, avoid engaging in such secular businesses as would engross their attention, and require much time to execute; and, on the other, should be careful to observe all the rules of faith and practice enjoined in the gospel. The husbandman that laboureth, &c. — This should undoubtedly be rather rendered, The husbandman must first labour, and then partake of the fruits; or, must labour before he partake of the fruits. For 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, or before any others, was not the point in question. How much more, as if the apostle had said, oughtest thou to labour, O Timothy, in the ministry before thou art rewarded. Consider what I say — Concerning the necessity of devoting thyself wholly to the ministry, and enduring evil; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things — Belonging to the gospel, and thy duty as a Christian and a minister. 2 Timothy 2:4 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 Timothy 2:5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. 2 Timothy 2:6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. 2 Timothy 2:7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 2 Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: 2 Timothy 2:8-10 . Remember — So as to be encouraged against, and supported under, any sufferings which thou mayest be called to endure for the truth; that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David — According to the flesh; see on Romans 1:3 ; Hebrews 2:16 ; was raised from the dead — And thereby demonstrated himself to be the true Messiah. So our translators have rendered the clause, understanding the sense to be, Remember and adhere to this important fact, as the great foundation of the gospel. But the original expressions, ????????? ?????? ??????? ??????????? ?? ?????? , are, literally, Remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead, &c. That is, think on him, keep him continually in remembrance, and it will be instead of a thousand arguments to support thee under, and carry thee through, all thy dangers and difficulties, thy labours and sufferings. Wherein — In the service of which gospel; I suffer trouble as an evildoer — A malefactor, deserving some heavy punishment; even unto bonds — Imprisonment and chains. But the word of God is not bound — It will spread itself in spite of all opposition. “This short sentence,” says Macknight, “is a beautiful display of the apostle’s character. The evils which he was suffering for the gospel, though great, he reckoned as nothing, because of the joy which he felt from his persuasion that the honour of Christ and the happiness of mankind would be promoted by his sufferings, and because he knew that all the opposition which infidels were making to the gospel, would not hinder it from being preached and believed. They have bound me in chains, said he, and may put me to death, but the word of God they cannot bind. Not only the strength of the apostle’s reasoning here, but the energy of his expression is admirable.” Therefore — In hope of a glorious reward, to be conferred in due time on them and myself. I endure all things for the elect’s sake — That is, that I may thereby promote the salvation of God’s people. See on 2 Thessalonians 2:13 . Observe the spirit of a real Christian! Who would not wish to be like-minded! That they may obtain salvation — From sin and all its consequences, or deliverance from all evil; with eternal glory — The enjoyment of all good. 2 Timothy 2:9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound. 2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him , we shall also live with him : 2 Timothy 2:11-14 . It is a faithful saying — A saying as important as it is true. If we be dead — Greek, ????????????? , die, or have died, with him — To the world and sin, and be ready to die for him; we shall live with him — In that everlasting happiness which he hath prepared for all his people. If we suffer with him — Persecution, or whatever he may be pleased to appoint or permit to happen to us, with faith and patience becoming a Christian; we shall also reign with him — In heavenly glory: see on Romans 8:17 ; 1 Peter 4:13 . If — Intimidated with these transitory evils, we desert his cause, and deny him — Before men, that we may escape suffering for him; he also will deny us — In the great day, before his Father and the holy angels, Matthew 10:33 ; Luke 12:9 . If we believe not — That he will deny us, presuming upon his mercy; yet he abideth faithful — And will fulfil his threatenings on such as expose themselves to them; he cannot deny himself — Cannot falsify his word, or fail to make it good. Or the verse may be interpreted in a more general sense thus: If we believe not the truths and promises of his gospel, or if we are unfaithful, (as some render ?????????? , considering it as opposed to ?????? , faithful, ) yet he abideth faithful, and will steadily adhere to those rules of judgment, and distribution of rewards and punishments, which he hath so solemnly laid down in his word: for it is certain he cannot deny himself, or frustrate his own public declarations. Therefore be diligent, as if the apostle had said, in the discharge of thy duty, and shrink not from it for fear of suffering. Of these things put them in remembrance — Remind those who are under thy charge of these powerful motives to persevere in patiently suffering ill, and diligently doing well; charging them before the Lord — As in his presence, and as they will answer it to him; not to strive — Greek, ?? ?????????? , not to contend, or quarrel, about words — An evil to which they are prone; to no profit — Such a contention is altogether unprofitable, and even tends to the subverting of the hearers — The diverting their attention from true, vital religion, and the important truths on which it is built, and filling their minds with pride and passion, and numberless other disorders and vices. There is an awful solemnity, as Doddridge justly observes, in this charge, which plainly shows the great folly and mischief of striving about little controversies. Indeed, consequences such as those here referred to, are wont to flow from most religious disputes as they are commonly managed; so that they tend to nothing out to the subverting of the faith and morals of those who engage keenly in them. They ought therefore to be carefully avoided by all who desire to promote true piety and virtue, agreeably to the apostle’s direction. 2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him : if we deny him , he also will deny us: 2 Timothy 2:13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:14 Of these things 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. 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 . Study to show thyself approved, &c. — Greek, ????????? ??????? ??????? ?????????? ?? ??? , literally, be zealous, make haste, or diligently endeavour, to present thyself approved to God, what ever men may judge of thee and thy services; a workman that needeth not to be ashamed — Either on account of unfaithfulness, unskilfulness, lukewarmness, negligence, or sloth; rightly dividing the word of truth — Greek, ???????????? , literally, rightly cutting up the word — In allusion, as some think, to the action of the Jewish priests in dissecting the victims, and separating the parts in a proper manner, as some were to be laid on God’s altar, and others to be given to those who were to share in the sacrifices. Or rather, the metaphor may be taken from the distribution made by a steward in delivering out to each person under his care such things as his office and their necessities require; or to the action of one who carves at a table, and distributes meat to the guests, according to their ages, and their state of health. In this manner the apostle himself divided the word to the Corinthians, feeding them with milk, as babes in Christ, and not with meat, as not being then able to bear it. See Hebrews 5:12-14 . The Vulgate version renders the clause, recte tractantem, rightly handling the word, which gives the apostle’s meaning very well. Thus those ministers handle it who duly explain and apply the whole gospel, so as to give each hearer his due portion. But they that give one part of the gospel to all, (the promises and comforts, suppose, to unawakened, hardened, and scoffing sinners,) have real need to be ashamed. To divide or handle the word of truth aright, implies that it be done, 1st, With evidence and demonstration, so as to convince the conscience, Acts 2:37 ; 1 Corinthians 2:4 . 2d, With sincerity and faithfulness, delivering the whole counsel of God, Acts 20:27 . 3d, With power and authority, Matthew 7:29 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:5 . 4th, With wisdom and seasonableness, as men are able to bear it, Mark 4:33 ; John 16:12 . 5th, With meekness, gentleness, love, and all winning insinuations, 2 Timothy 2:24-25 ; 1 Thessalonians 2:7 . 6th, With courage and boldness, Jeremiah 1:17 ; Ephesians 6:19 . 2 Timothy 2:16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 2 Timothy 2:16-18 . But shun profane and vain babblings — See on 1 Timothy 1:4 ; for they will increase, &c. — Though the evil of some of them may not immediately appear, and they may seem trifling rather than mischievous, they will advance unto more impiety; for the persons who so babble, having been prevailed on by Satan to quit the right way of experimental and practical godliness, will proceed not only to neglect, but even to deny, the most essential articles of the Christian faith. And their word — Their doctrine; will eat as doth a canker — Will destroy the souls of men, as a gangrene destroys the body, spreading itself further and further till the whole is infected. Of whom — Of which sort of ungodly talkers; are Hymeneus and Philetus — The apostle mentions these two by name as empty babblers, whom the faithful were to resist, because their errors were of the most dangerous nature, as is evident from the account which the apostle gives of them in the next verse. Of Hymeneus, see on 1 Timothy 1:20 ; Philetus is mentioned nowhere else in Scripture. Probably these teachers denied that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, (see 1 John 4:2 ,) consequently they denied the reality both of his death and resurrection. Who concerning the truth have erred — ????????? , have gone wide of the mark; have fallen into a most dangerous and destructive error, by their allegorical interpretations, explaining away one of the most fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and maintaining that the resurrection is past already — That is, that there is no other but a spiritual resurrection, from a death in sin to a life in righteousness, which consequently is already past with regard to all true Christians; and overthrow the faith of some — In a capital point, namely, concerning the resurrection of the body, and a future life of glory designed for it, as well as for the soul. By explaining the doctrine of the resurrection in a figurative sense, these false teachers probably endeavoured to recommend the gospel to the Greek philosophers, who considered the resurrection of the body not only as impossible in itself, but as a thing highly disadvantageous had it been possible. 2 Timothy 2:17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 2 Timothy 2:18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:19 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 Timothy 2:19 . Nevertheless the foundation of God — That is, the foundation of God’s church, represented as a house, 2 Timothy 2:20 ; 1 Timothy 3:15 ; 1 Peter 2:5 ; in which God dwells, Ephesians 2:22 ; as a family inhabiting a house, Hebrews 3:3 ; as a temple, Ephesians 2:21 ; in which God displays his glory, communicates his blessings, receives the prayers, praises, and oblations of his people, and is worshipped in spirit and in truth. The foundation of this church Isaiah , 1 st, The great truth spoken of 2 Timothy 2:8 , namely, the resurrection of Christ, the principal support of the whole fabric of Christianity, as manifesting Christ to be the Son of God, Romans 1:4 ; confirming his doctrine, showing the efficacy of his atonement, Romans 4:25 ; obtaining for us the Holy Spirit, John 16:7 ; showing the necessity of our rising to a new life, Romans 6:4-5 ; Ephesians 2:5-6 ; proving that we shall rise at the great day; that immortality is before us; and that we ought, therefore, to set our affections on, and seek, the things above. 2d, The doctrine of our resurrection through Christ, which is a capital article of Christianity, ( Hebrews 6:1 ; 1 Corinthians 15:19 ,) and all the other fundamental doctrines of the gospel connected with that of Christ’s and his people’s resurrection, termed, ( Ephesians 2:20 ,) the foundation of the apostles and prophets; that is, the foundation laid by them. See the note there, and on 1 Timothy 3:15-16 . 3d, Christ himself, in whom all these doctrines are yea and amen, is the foundation of his church, and of the knowledge, experience, and practice of every individual belonging to it, of which see the note on 1 Corinthians 3:11 . This three-fold foundation standeth sure — Remains immoveable and the same, throughout all ages. But who build on this foundation? Who are true members of this church, true worshippers in this spiritual temple? This we learn from the next clause. Having this seal — Or inscription, as the word ??????? often signifies, meaning the mark made by a seal, as well as the seal itself. So it signifies Revelation 9:4 ; and the expression is here used with propriety, in allusion to the custom of engraving upon some stones laid in the foundation of buildings, the names of the persons by whom, and the purposes for which, the structure was raised. See Zechariah 3:9 . And nothing can have a greater tendency to encourage the confidence and hope, and at the same time to engage the obedience of sincere Christians, than the double inscription here mentioned. One part of this is, The Lord knoweth — Or acknowledgeth; them that are his — Namely, those who truly turn to him in repentance, faith, and new obedience, or who confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus, even when their confessing him might be followed with the loss of all things, with imprisonment and martyrdom, and who believe with their heart unto righteousness, that God hath raised him from the dead, Romans 10:9-10 . All such he assuredly knows, acknowledges, and will favour and protect as his. Dr. Whitby supposes that the apostle alludes here to Numbers 16:5 , To-morrow the Lord will show who are his, and who is holy; and that the clause has a peculiar reference to the apostles, in opposition to heretical teachers. Let it be observed, however, that all these will manifest that they are the Lord’s not merely by naming the name of Christ — Or making a profession of Christianity; but by departing from iniquity — Without which they would not be worthy of being accounted members even of the visible church, as they would show themselves visibly, or evidently, to be of the devil, by doing his works, John 8:4 ; 1 John 3:8 . 2 Timothy 2:20 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. 2 Timothy 2:20-21 . But in a great house — Such as the Christian Church soon became, taking in multitudes of Gentiles in all parts of Asia, Macedonia, Greece, and Italy, and such as it has long been, and now is; there are not only vessels of gold and silver — Designed for the most honourable uses; but of wood and of earth — Intended for uses less houourable. The apostle alludes to the houses of nobles, princes, and other great persons, in which are usually found vessels of different materials, and for various uses. Thus, in the visible church, there always have been, are, and will be, persons of different gifts or abilities, and intended for different offices, as is also represented where the apostle compares the members of the church of Christ to the different members of the human body, as Romans 12:4-5 ; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 , and elsewhere. And some to honour, and some to dishonour — That Isaiah , 1 st, Some designed and qualified for more honourable offices than others; and, 2d, Some whose holy tempers and practices are an honour to the religion they profess; and others who, if by departing from outward iniquity they obtain a name and place among the people of God, and are reckoned members of the visible church, yet, by their hypocrisy, formality, lukewarmness, and negligence, are so far from adorning the doctrine of God their Saviour, or from being an honour to the cause of Christ, that they are a disgrace to it. But if a man purge himself from these — 1st, By making application by faith to Christ’s cleansing blood, 1 John 1:7 ; 1 John 2 d, By praying for and receiving God’s purifying Spirit, Ezekiel 36:25-27 ; 1 Peter 1:2 ; 1 Peter 3 d, By receiving and obeying the purifying word, John 15:3 ; 1 Peter 1:23 ; 1 Peter 4 th, By exercising purifying faith, Acts 15:9 ; Acts , , 5 th, By self-denial and mortification Romans 8:13 ; he shall be a vessel unto honour — He shall be a credit to the religion of Jesus; sanctified — That is, separated from sin and sinners, and dedicated to God in heart and life; meet for the master’s use — For the service of Christ; prepared unto — And employed in; every good work — Which he is called to perform. Add to this, not only may those who are vessels unto dishonour in the bad sense, and a reproach to the Christian cause, become an honour to it by their vital piety and active virtue; but those whose gifts are inferior, and who are like vessels of wood and earth, only fit for lower offices in the church, may, by properly exercising their gifts and graces, so improve them as to become qualified for higher and more useful offices; and be, as it were, vessels of silver and gold. For to him that hath, that makes a right use of, and improves what he hath, shall more be given, Matthew 13:12 . Still, however, they will be but vessels; empty in themselves, and useless, if not filled by, and employed for, the Lord. 2 Timothy 2:21 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 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 . Flee youthful lusts — Or desires, namely, those peculiarly incident to youth; that is, shun all occasions of exciting or gratifying them, whether, on the one hand, the love of sensual pleasure and the inclination to gratify the appetites and senses of the body, or, on the other, pride, ambition, vain-glory, rashness, contention, obstinacy; vices to which young persons are peculiarly obnoxious; and which some who are free from sensual lusts, are at little pains to avoid; but follow, &c. — That is, instead of making provision for these carnal dispositions, or yielding to their motions when they arise, pursue with the greatest ardour and intenseness of mind, and with all diligence and constancy, righteousness — In all its branches; every part of thy duty toward God and man; faith — Or fidelity; charity — That is, love; peace with them that call on the Lord, &c. — Especially with all the true people of God. 2 Timothy 2:23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. 2 Timothy 2:23-25 . But foolish and unlearned questions — Or unimportant subjects of inquiry and debate; avoid, knowing that they gender strifes — Or contentions in the church; and certainly it is a most important part of the duty of a Christian minister to guard against all occasions of offence and mischief. For the servant of the Lord must not strive — Or contend eagerly and passionately, as do the vain wranglers spoken of in the preceding verse; but be gentle — Or mild, forbearing, and long-suffering; unto all men; apt to teach — Chiefly by patience and unwearied assiduity. In meekness — Of which he has always need; instructing those who oppose themselves — Or who set themselves in opposition to the doctrines of the gospel; if peradventure — Or by any means; God may give them repentance to the acknowledgment — The belief and profession; of the truth — In these verses, “the apostle seems to have had Christ’s example as a teacher in his eye, proposing it as a model to all who are employed in teaching. The virtues here mentioned, our Lord generally exercised in teaching. Yet, on some occasions, he departed from his usual mildness, and with great severity reproved notorious sinners; such as the scribes and Pharisees. In the same manner, the prophets and apostles used strong speech in checking obstinate offenders; while those who showed any candour and honesty in their opposition to the truth, they instructed with the greatest meekness.” — Macknight. That they may recover themselves — Or rather, may awake, and deliver themselves; out of the snare of the devil — In which they have lain sleeping, and, as it were, intoxicated. “In order to understand this beautiful image,” says Doddridge,” it is proper to observe, that the word ?????????? properly signifies to awake from a deep sleep, or from a fit of intoxication, and refers to an artifice of fowlers to scatter seeds impregnated with some drugs intended to lay birds asleep, that they may draw the net over them with the greater security.” Who are taken captive by him — Greek, ??????????? , caught alive. The word denotes the action of a fisher, or hunter, who takes his prey alive in order to kill it; which is properly applied to Satan’s insnaring men in order to destroy them. And the snares in which he takes them are those prejudices, errors, lusts, and vices, in which he entangles, and by which he detains them his captives, in the most shameful bondage, danger, and misery, while they have been dreaming, perhaps, of liberty and happiness. 2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men , apt to teach, patient, 2 Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 2 Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Chapter 29 THE NEED OF MACHINERY FOR THE PRESERVATION AND TRANSMISSION OF THE FAITH-THE MACHINERY OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. - 2 Timothy 2:1-2 In this tenderly affectionate address we have a very early indication of the beginnings of Christian tradition and Christian schools, two subjects intimately connected with one another. St. Paul having pointed out as a warning to his "child" Timothy the cold or cowardly behavior of those in Asia who had turned away from him, and as an example the affectionate courage of Onesiphorus, returns to the charge of which this letter is so full, that Timothy is "not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord," but be willing to "suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God." { 2 Timothy 1:8 } "Thou, therefore, my child," with these instances in mind on the one hand and on the other, "be inwardly strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." In his own strength he will be able to do nothing; but in the grace which Christ freely bestows on all believers who ask it of Him, Timothy will be able to find all that he needs for the strengthening of his own character and for the instruction of others. And here St. Paul, in a way thoroughly natural in one who is writing a letter which is personal rather than official, diverges for a moment to give utterance to the idea which passes through his mind of securing permanence in the instruction of the faithful. Possibly it was in reference to this duty that he feared the natural despondency and sensitiveness of Timothy. Timothy would be likely to shrink from such work, or to do it in a half-hearted way. Or again the thought that this letter is to summon Timothy to come to him is in his mind, { 2 Timothy 4:9 ; 2 Timothy 4:21 } and he forthwith exhorts him to make proper provision for continuity of sound teaching in the Church committed to his care. "The things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." In other words, before leaving his flock in order to visit his spiritual father and friend, he is to secure the establishment of apostolic tradition. And in order to do this he is to establish a school, -a school of picked scholars, intelligent enough to appreciate, and trustworthy enough to preserve, all that has been handed down from Christ and His Apostles respecting the essentials of the Christian faith. There is only one Gospel, -that which the Apostles have preached ever since the Ascension. It is so well known, so well authenticated both by intrinsic sublimity and external testimony, that no one would be justified in accepting a different Gospel, even upon the authority of an angel from heaven. A second Gospel is an impossibility. That which is not identical with the Gospel which St. Paul and the other Apostles have preached would be no Gospel at all. { Galatians 1:6-9 } And this Divine and Apostolic Gospel is the Gospel which has been committed to Timothy’s charge. Let him take all reasonable care for its preservation. For in the first place, such care was commanded from the outset. Christ has promised that His truth shall continue and shall prevail. But He has not exempted Christians from the duty of preserving and propagating it. He, Who is the Truth, has declared that He is ever with His Church, even unto the end of the world; { Matthew 28:20 } and in fulfillment of this promise He has bestowed the Spirit of truth upon it. But He has nowhere hinted that His Church is to leave the cause of His Gospel to take care of itself. On the contrary, at the very time that He promised to be always with His disciples, He prefaced this promise with the command, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you"; as if His promise were contingent upon their fulfillment of this charge. At the very moment when the Church received the truth, it was told that it had the responsibility of safeguarding it and making it known. And, secondly, experience has proved how entirely necessary such care is. The Gospel cannot be superseded by any announcement possessing a larger measure of truth and authority. So far as the present dispensation goes, its claims are absolute and final. But it may be seriously misunderstood; it may be corrupted by large admixture of error; it may be partially or even totally forgotten; it may be supplanted by some meretricious counterfeit. There were Thessalonians who had supposed that the Gospel exempted them from the obligation of working to earn their bread. There were Christians at Corinth and Ephesus who had confounded the liberty of the Gospel with antinomian license. There was the Church of Sardis which had so completely forgotten what it had received, that no works of its doing were found fulfilled before God, and the remnant of truth and life which survived was ready to perish. And the Churches of Galatia had been in danger of casting on one side the glories of the Gospel and returning to the bondage of the Law. Through ignorance, through neglect, through willful misrepresentation or interested opposition, the truth might be obscured, or depraved, or defeated; and there were few places where such disastrous results were more possible than at Ephesus. Its restless activity in commerce and speculation; its worldliness; the seductiveness of its forms of paganism; - all these constituted an atmosphere in which Christian truth, unless carefully protected, would be likely to become tainted or be ignored. Even without taking into account the proposal that Timothy should leave Ephesus for awhile and visit the Apostle in his imprisonment at Rome, it was no more than necessary precaution that he should endeavor to secure the establishment of a permanent center for preserving and handing on in its integrity the faith once for all committed to the saints. "The things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses." The last three words are remarkable; and they are still more remarkable in the original Greek. St. Paul does not say simply "in the presence of many witnesses" ( ??????? or ???????? ?????? ???????? ), but "by means of many witnesses" ( ?????? ). In the First Epistle { 1 Timothy 6:12 } he had appealed to the good confession which Timothy had made "in the sight of many witnesses." As regards Timothy’s confession these were witnesses and no more. They were able forever afterwards to testify that he had made it; but they did not help him to make it. The confession was his, not theirs, although no doubt they assented to it and approved it; and their presence in no way affected its goodness. But here those who were present were something more than mere witnesses of what the Apostle said to Timothy: they were an integral part of the proceeding. Their presence was an element without which the Apostle’s teaching would have assumed a different character. They were not a mere audience, able to testify as to what was said; they were guarantees of the instruction which was given. The sentiments and opinions which St. Paul might express in private to his disciple, and the authoritative teaching which he delivered to him in public under the sanction of many witnesses, were two different things and stood on different grounds. Timothy had often heard from his friend his personal views on a variety of subjects; and he had often heard from the Apostle his official testimony, delivered solemnly in the congregation, as to the truths of the Gospel. It is this latter body of instruction, thus amply guaranteed, of which Timothy is to take such care. He is to treat it as a treasure committed to his charge, a precious legacy which he holds in trust. And in his turn he is to commit it to the keeping of trustworthy persons, who will know its value, and be capable of preserving it intact and of handing it on to others as trustworthy as themselves. Some expositors interpret the passage as referring, not to the Apostle’s public teaching as a whole, but to the instructions which he gave to Timothy at his ordination respecting the proper discharge of his office; and the aorist tense ( ??????? ) favors the view that some definite occasion is intended. {comp. 1 Timothy 4:14 ; 2 Timothy 1:6 } In that case the Apostle is here showing anxiety for the establishment of a sound tradition respecting the duties of ministers, - a very important portion, but by no means the main portion of the teaching which he had imparted. But the aorist does not compel us to confine the allusion to some one event, such as Timothy’s ordination or baptism; and it seems more reasonable to understand the charge here given as a continuation of that which occurs towards the close of the first chapter. There he says, "Hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard" ( ??????? ) "from me"; and here he charges Timothy not merely to hold this pattern of sound words fast himself, but to take care that it does not perish with him. This, then, may be considered as the earliest trace of the formation of a theological school, -a school which has for its object not merely the instruction of the ignorant, but the protection and maintenance of a definite body of doctrine. That which the Apostle, when he was in Ephesus, publicly taught, under the sanction of a multitude of witnesses, is to be preserved and handed on without compromise or corruption as a pattern of wholesome doctrine. There are unhealthy and even deadly distortions of the truth in the air, and unless care is taken to preserve the truth, it may easily become possible to confuse weak and ignorant minds as to what are the essentials of the Christian faith. The question as to the earliest methods of Christian instruction and the precautions taken for the preservation of Apostolic tradition is one of the many particulars in which our knowledge of the primitive Church is so tantalizingly meager. A small amount of information is given us in the New Testament, for the most part quite incidentally, as here; and then the history runs underground, and does not reappear for a century or more. The first few generations of Christians did not contain a large number of persons who were capable of producing anything very considerable in the way of literature. Of those who had the ability, not many had the leisure or the inclination to write. It was more important to teach, by word of mouth than with the pen; and where was the use of leaving records of what was being done, when (as was generally believed) Christ would almost immediately appear to put an end to the existing dispensation? Out of what was written much, as we know, has perished, including even documents of Apostolic origin. { Luke 1:1-2 ; 1 Corinthians 5:9 ; 3 John 1:9 } Therefore, much as we lament the scantiness of the evidence that has come down to us, there is nothing surprising about it. The marvel is, not that so little contemporary history has reached us, but that so much has done so. And what it behooves us to do is to make a sober use of such testimony as we possess. We shall be doing no more than drawing a reasonable conclusion from the passage before us if we infer that what St. Paul enjoins Timothy to do at Ephesus was done in many other Churches also, partly in consequence of this Apostolic injunction, and partly because what he enjoins would be suggested in many cases by necessity and common sense. This inference is confirmed by the fact that it is precisely to the continuity of doctrine secured by a regular succession of authorized and official teachers in the different Churches that appeal is continually made by some of the earliest Christian writers whose works have come down to us. Thus Hegesippus cir. A.D. 170) gives as the result of careful personal investigations at Corinth, Rome, and elsewhere, "But in every succession (of bishops) and in every city there prevails just what the Law and the Prophets and the Lord proclaim" (Eus., "H.E.," IV, 22:3). Irenaeus, in his great work against heresies, which was completed about A.D. 185, says, "We can enumerate those who were appointed bishops by the Apostles themselves in the different Churches, and their successors down to our own day; and they neither taught nor acknowledged any such stuff as is raved by these men" But since it would be a long business in a work of this kind to enumerate the successions in all the Churches, he selects as a primary example that of "the very great and ancient Church, well known to all men, founded and established by the two most glorious Apostles Peter and Paul." After giving the succession of Roman bishops from Linus to Eleutherus, he glances at Smyrna, presided over by St. John’s disciple, Polycarp, whose letter to the Philippian Church shows what he believed, and at Ephesus, founded as a Church by St. Paul and presided over by St. John, until the times of Trajan (III 3:1-3). Again he says that, although there may be different opinions respecting single passages of Scripture, yet there can be none as to the sum total of its contents, viz., "that which the Apostles have deposited in the Church as the fullness of truth, and which has been preserved in the Church by the succession of bishops." And again, still more definitely, "The Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world even to the ends of the earth, has received from the Apostles and their disciples the belief in one God, Father Almighty, etc. Having received this preaching and this belief, the Church, as we said before, although dispersed about the whole world, carefully guards it, as if dwelling in one house; and she believes these things, as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart, and with perfect concord she preaches them and teaches them and hands them down, as if she possessed but one mouth. For although the languages up and down the world are different, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For neither the Churches which are established in Germany believe anything different or hand down anything different, nor in Spain, nor in Gaul, nor throughout the East, nor in Egypt, nor in Libya, nor those established about the central regions of the earth And neither will he who is very mighty in word among those who preside in the Churches utter different [doctrines] from these (for no one is above the Master), nor will he who is weak in speaking lessen the tradition" (I 10. I, 2). Clement of Alexandria (cir. A.D. 200) tells us that he had studied in Greece, Italy, and the East, under teachers from Ionia, Coelesyria, Assyria, and Palestine; and he writes of his teachers thus: "These men, preserving the true tradition of the blessed teaching directly from Peter and James, from John and Paul, the holy Apostles, son receiving it from father (but few are they who are like their fathers), came by God’s providence even to us, to deposit among us those seeds which are ancestral and apostolic" ("Strom.," I p. 322, ed. Potter). Tertullian in like manner appeals to the unbroken tradition, reaching back to the Apostles, in a variety of Churches: "Run over the Apostolic Churches, in which the very chairs of the Apostles still preside in their places, in which their own authentic writings are read, uttering the voice and representing the face of each of them"; and he mentions in particular Corinth, Philippi, Thessalonica, Ephesus, and Rome. "Is it likely that Churches of such number and weight should have strayed into one and the same faith?" ("De Pries. Hoer.," 28., 36.). This evidence is quite sufficient to prove that what St. Paul charged Timothy to do at Ephesus was done not only there, but at all the chief centers of the Christian Church: viz., that everywhere great care was taken to provide continuity of authoritative teaching respecting the articles of the faith. It indicates also that as a rule the bishop in each place was regarded as the custodian of the deposit, who was to be chiefly responsible for its preservation. But the precise method or methods (for there was probably different machinery in different places) by which this was accomplished, cannot now be ascertained. It is not until near the end of the second century that we begin to get anything like precise information as to the way in which Christian instruction was given, whether to believers or heathen, in one or two of the principal centers of Christendom; e.g., Alexandria, Caesarea, and Jerusalem. St. Paul himself had ruled that a bishop must be "apt to teach" ( 1 Timothy 3:2 ; comp. Titus 1:9 ); and although we have no reason to suppose that as a rule the bishop was the only or even the chief instructor, yet he probably selected the teachers, as Timothy is directed to do here. In the great Catechetical School of Alexandria the appointment of what we should now call the Rector or senior professor was in the hands of the bishop. And, as we might expect, bishops selected clergy for this most important office. It forms one of the many contrasts between primitive Christianity and heathenism, that Christians did, and pagans did not, regard it as one of the functions of the priesthood to give instruction in the traditional faith. The heathen clergy, if consulted, would give information respecting the due performance of rites and ceremonies, and the import of omens and dreams; but of their giving systematic teaching as to what was to be believed respecting the gods, there is no trace. It is more than probable that a great deal of the instruction both to candidates for baptism and candidates for the ministry was from very early times reduced to something like a formula; even before the dangers of corruption arising from Gnosticism rendered this necessary, we may believe that it took place. We know that the Gospel history was m the first instance taught orally; and the oral instruction very soon-fell into something that approached to a stereotyped form. This would probably be the case with regard to statements of the essentials of the Christian faith. In Ignatius ("Philad.," 8.), Justin Martyr ("Apol.," I 61, 66), and in Irenaeus ("Haer.," I 10. i) we can trace what may well have been formulas in common use. But it is not until the middle of the fourth century that we get a complete example of the systematic instruction given by a Christian teacher, in the Catechetical Lectures of St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, delivered, however, before his episcopate. But what is certain respecting the earliest ages of the Church is this; that in every Church regular instruction in the faith was given by persons in authority specially selected for this work, and that frequent intercourse between the Churches showed that the substance of the instruction given was in all cases the same, whether the form of words was identical or not. These facts, which do not by any means stand alone, are conclusive against the hypothesis that between the Crucifixion and the middle of the second century a complete revolution in the creed was effected; and that the traditional belief of Christians is not that which Jesus of Nazareth taught, but a perversion of it which owes its origin mainly to the overwhelming influence of His professed follower, but virtual supplanter, Saul of Tarsus. 2 Timothy 2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Chapter 30 THE CHRISTIAN’S LIFE AS MILITARY SERVICE; AS AN ATHLETIC CONTEST; AS HUSBANDRY. - 2 Timothy 2:3-7 ST. PAUL represents the Christian life and the Christian ministry under a variety of figures. Sometimes as husbandry; as when he tells the Galatians that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap"; and that "in due season we shall reap, if we faint not"; { Galatians 6:7 ; Galatians 6:9 } or when he reminds the Corinthians that "he that plougheth ought to plough in hope, and he that thresheth, to thresh in hope of partaking". { 1 Corinthians 9:10 } Sometimes as an athletic contest; as when he tells the Corinthians that "every man who striveth in the games is temperate in all things"; { 1 Corinthians 9:25 } or the Ephesians that "our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places". { Ephesians 6:12 } Sometimes, and most frequently, as military service: as when he charges the Thessalonians to "put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation"; { 1 Thessalonians 5:8 } or when he writes to the Philippians of Epaphroditus as his "fellow-soldier". { Php 2:25 } In the passage before us he makes use of all three figures: but the one of which he seems to have been most fond is the one which he places first, -that of military service. "Suffer hardships with me," or "take thy share in suffering, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier." He had used the same kind of language in the First Epistle, urging Timothy to "war the good warfare" and to "fight the good fight of faith". { 1 Timothy 1:18 ; 1 Timothy 6:12 } Every Christian, and especially every Christian minister, may be regarded as a soldier, as an athlete, as a husbandman; but of the three similitudes the one which fits him best is that of a soldier. Even if this were not so, St. Paul’s fondness for the metaphor would be very intelligible. 1. Military service was very familiar to him, especially in his imprisonments. He had been arrested by soldiers at Jerusalem, escorted by 2. troops to Caesarea, sent under the charge of a centurion and a band of soldiers to Rome, and had been kept there under military surveillance for many months in the first Roman imprisonment, and for we know not how long in the second. And we may assume it as almost certain that the place of his imprisonment was near the praetorian camp. This would probably be so ordered for the convenience of the soldiers who had charge of him. He therefore had very large opportunities of observing very closely all the details of ordinary military life. He must frequently have seen soldiers under drill, on parade, on guard, on the march; must have watched them cleaning, mending, and sharpening their weapons; putting their armor on, putting it off. Often during hours of enforced inactivity he must have compared these details with the details of the Christian life, and noticed how admirably they corresponded with one another. Military service was not only very familiar to himself; it was also quite sufficiently familiar to those whom he addressed. Roman troops were everywhere to be seen throughout the length and breadth of the Empire, and nearly every member of society knew something of the kind of life which a soldier of the Empire had to lead. 1. The Roman army was the one great organization of which it was still possible, in that age of boundless social corruption, to think and speak with right-minded admiration and respect. No doubt it was often the instrument of wholesale cruelties as it pushed forward its conquests, or strengthened its hold, over resisting or rebelling nations. But it promoted discipline and esprit de corps. Even during active warfare it checked individual license; and when the conquest was over it was the representative and mainstay of order and justice against high-handed anarchy and wrong. Its officers several times appear m the narrative portions of the New Testament, and they make a favorable impression upon us. If they are fair specimens of the military men in the Roman Empire at that period, then the Roman army must have been indeed a fine service. There is the centurion whose faith excited even Christ’s admiration; the centurion who confessed Christ’s righteousness and Divine origin at the crucifixion; Cornelius, of the Italian cohort, to whom St. Peter was sent; C. Lysias, the chief captain or tribune who rescued St. Paul, first from the mob, and then from the conspiracy to assassinate him; and Julius, who out of consideration for St. Paul prevented the soldiers from killing the prisoners in the shipwreck. 2. But the reasons for the Apostle’s preference for this similitude go deeper than all this. Military service involves self-sacrifice, endurance, discipline, vigilance, obedience, ready co-operation with others, sympathy, enthusiasm, loyalty. Tertullian in his "Address to Martyrs" draws with characteristic incisiveness the stern parallel between the severity of the soldier’s life and that of the Christian. "Be it so, that even to Christians a prison is distasteful. We were called to active service under the Living God from the very moment of our response to the baptismal formula. No soldier comes to the war surrounded by luxuries, nor goes into action from a comfortable bedroom, but from the makeshift and narrow tent, where every kind of hardness and severity and unpleasantness is to be found. Even in peace soldiers learn betimes to suffer warfare by toil and discomforts, by marching in arms, running over the drill-ground, working at trench-making, constructing the tortoise till the sweat runs again. In the sweat of the brow all things are done, lest body and mind should shrink at changes from shade to sunshine, and from sunshine to frost, from the dress of ease to the coat of mail, from stillness to shouting, from quiet to the din of war. In like manner do ye, O blessed ones, account whatever is hard in this your lot as discipline of the powers of your mind and body. Ye are about to enter for the good fight, in which the Living God gives the prizes, and the Holy Spirit prepares the combatants, and the crown is the eternal prize of an angel’s nature, citizenship in heaven, glory forever and ever. Therefore your trainer, Jesus Christ, Who has anointed you with the Spirit and led you forth to this arena, has seen good to separate you from a state of freedom for rougher treatment, that power may be made strong in you. For the athletes also are set apart for stricter discipline, that they may have time to build up their strength. They are kept from luxury, from daintier meats, from too pleasant drink; they are driven, tormented, distressed. The harder their labors in training, the greater their hopes of victory. And they do it, says the Apostle, that they may obtain a corruptible crown. We, with an eternal crown to obtain, look upon the prison as our training-ground, that we may be led to the arena of the judgment-seat well disciplined by every kind of discomfort: because virtue is built up, by hardness, but by softness is overthrown" ("Ad Mart.," 3.). It will be observed that Tertullian passes by an easy transition from training for military service to training for athletic contests. The whole passage is little more than a graphic amplification of what St. Paul writes to Timothy. 1. But military service implies, what athletic contests do not, vigilant, unwearying, and organized opposition to a vigilant, unwearying, and organized foe. In many athletic contests one’s opponent is a rival rather than an enemy. He may defeat us; but he inflicts no injury. He may win the prizes; but he takes nothing of ours. And even in the more deadly conflicts of the amphitheatre the enemy is very different from an enemy in war. The combat is between individuals, not armies; it is the exception and not the rule; it is strictly limited in time and place, not for all times and all places; it is a duel and not a campaign, - still less a prolonged war. Military service is either perpetual warfare or perpetual preparation for it. And just such is the Christian life: it is either a conflict, or a preparation for one. The soldier, so long as he remains in the service, can never say, "I may lay aside my arms and my drill: all enemies are conquered; there will never be another war." And the Christian, so long as he remains in this world, can never think that he may cease to watch and to pray, because the victory is won, and he will never be tempted any more. It is for this reason that he cannot allow himself to be "entangled in the affairs of this life." The soldier on service avoids this error: he knows that it would interfere with his promotion. The Christian must avoid it at least as carefully; for he is always on service, and the loss of promotion is the loss of eternal life. Observe that St. Paul does not suggest that Christians should keep aloof from the affairs of this life, which would be a flat contradiction of what he teaches elsewhere. The Christian is to "do his own business, and to work with his hands, that he may walk honestly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing". { 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 } He has a duty to perform "in the affairs of this life," but in doing it he is not to be entangled in them. They are means, not ends; and must be made to help him on, not suffered to keep him back. If they become entanglements instead of opportunities, he will soon lose that state of constant preparation and alertness, which is the indispensable condition of success. The same thought is brought out in the second metaphor by the word " lawfully. " The athlete who competes in the games does not receive a crown, unless he has contended lawfully, i.e. , according to rule ( ??????? ????? ). Even if he seems to be victorious, he nevertheless is not crowned, because he has violated the well-known conditions. And what is the rule, what are the conditions of the Christian’s contest? "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." If we wish to share Christ’s victory, we must be ready to share His suffering. No cross, no crown. To try, to withdraw oneself from all hardship and annoyance, to attempt to avoid all that is painful or disagreeable, is a violation of the rules of the arena. This, it would appear, Timothy was in some respects tempted to do; and timidity and despondency must not be allowed to get the upper hand. Not that what is painful, or distasteful, or unpopular, is necessarily right; but it is certainly not necessarily wrong: and to try to avoid everything that one dislikes is to ensure being fatally wrong. So that, as Chrysostom says, "it behooves thee not to complain, if thou endurest hardness; but to complain, if thou dost not endure hardness." Chrysostom and some modern commentators make the striving lawfully include not only the observance of the rules of the contest, but the previous training and preparation. "What is meant by lawfully? It is not enough that he is anointed, and even engages, unless he complies with all the regulations of training with respect to diet, temperance, and sobriety, and all the rules of the wrestling-school. Unless, in short, he go through all that is befitting a wrestler, he is not crowned." This makes good sense, if "is not crowned" be interpreted to mean "is not likely to be first," rather than "does not receive the crown, even if he is first." A victorious athlete is rightly deprived of the reward, if he has violated the conditions of the contest: but no one ever yet heard of a victor being refused the prize because he had not trained properly. Moreover, there are enough examples to show that "lawfully" ( ??????? ) does sometimes include the training as well as the contest. But this does not seem to be St. Paul’s meaning. In the first similitude he takes no account of the time which precedes the soldier’s service, during which he may be supposed to be preparing himself for it. The Christian’s life and the soldier’s service are regarded as coextensive, and there is no thought of any previous period. So also in the second similitude. The Christian’s life and the athlete’s contest are regarded as co-extensive, and no account is taken of anything that may have preceded. Baptism is entering the lists, not entering the training-school; and the only rules under consideration are the rules of the arena. No doubt there are analogies between the training-school and Christian discipline, and St. Paul sometimes makes use of them; { 1 Corinthians 9:25 ; 1 Corinthians 9:27 } but they do not seem to be included in the present metaphor. But it is about the third similitude that there has been most discussion. "The husbandman that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruits": not, as the A.V., "must be first partaker of the fruits"; which seems to imply that he must partake of the fruits before he labors. What is the meaning of "first?" Some commentators resort to the rather desperate hypothesis that this word is misplaced, as it sometimes is