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on earth wait for Him and with Him until the appointed time comes when His waiting and their waiting ends. Verses 6-15. Exhortations follow. It seems there was considerable disorder among them. "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies." This was no doubt the result of their unsettled condition brought about by the false teachers. He therefore exhorts them to withdraw from any brother who does not hearken to the instructions he had given and who continued in a disorderly walk. Once more he cites his own exemplary life among them (1 Thess. ii:9-10). "For we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man's bread for nought (as charity); but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you. Not because we have not authority, but that we might give you an example to imitate us." He exhorts such who were disorderly, doing nothing but living in idleness, that with quietness they should work and no longer live from the labors of others, but each their own bread. If there is refusal from the side of such, no obedience to this rule, he is to be noted and no company kept with him. Yet he is not to be treated as an enemy, but to be admonished as a brother. How well it would be if this course would always be followed.

Verses 16-18. "And the Lord of peace Himself give you peace continually in every way." This is the final prayer in these two epistles. It must be noticed how prominent prayer is in both of these epistles. And the Lord, who is with His people, will give peace continually in every way, if they walk in obedience, subject to Himself.

FIRST TIMOTHY

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The First Epistle to Timothy.

Introduction.

The two Epistles to Timothy and the one to Titus are generally called the pastoral epistles, because they were addressed to these servants of the Lord who had been put in charge of important churches. Timothy ministered in Ephesus (1 Tim. 1:3) and Titus in Crete (Tit. 1:5). There never was a doubt expressed in the early church that these epistles were written by the Apostle Paul. Quotations from them are found in the writings of Clement of Rome (96 A.D.); Polycarp of Smyrna (110 A.D.); Ignatius of Antioch (110 A.D.); Irenaeus (175 A.D.); Theophilus of Antioch (168 A.D.); Justin Martyr and others. The Syriac version, known by the name Peshito, made about 135 A.D., contains these epistles, as well as other ancient versions. The greatest scholars of the early church attested them as genuine. Some of the heretics, like the Gnostic Marcion, and Tatian, rejected them, and so do the destructive critics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is hardly necessary to say that the style and internal evidences establish fully the Pauline authorship.

The Personal History of Timothy.

The name of Timothy is first mentioned in Acts xvi:1. His mother's name was Eunice (2 Tim. 1:5); she was a Jewess, but his father was a Gentile (Acts xvi:1, 3). Paul called him his son, my own son in the faith (1 Tim. i:2), from which we conclude that he was converted by the Apostle's ministry. His mother and grandmother, Lois (2 Tim. 1:5), were both Christians. They must have been, before their conversion, God-fearing Jewesses. This seems to be implied by 2 Tim. iii:14-15. Young Timothy had an excellent reputation among the brethren in Lystra and Iconium. After having him circumcised "because of the Jews,” Paul took him as a fellow-laborer in the Gospel (Acts xvi:1-3). He must have accompanied the Apostle on his journey through Macedonia, for the Apostle left him at Berea with Silas (Acts xviii:14). He had been in Thessalonica and Paul sent him back to ascertain the state of the Thessalonian church. After that he remained with the Apostle in Corinth. He then traveled with Paul from Corinth to Ephesus. From Ephesus he was sent by the Apostle with Erastus to Macedonia and Corinth (Acts xix:22; 1 Cor. iv:17). Later we find that he was with Paul, the prisoner, in Rome (Col. i:1, Phil. i:1, Philemon, verse 1).

When Was First Timothy Written?

Much has been written on the date of the First Epistle to Timothy. The question of one or two imprisonments of the Apostle becomes important in connection with the date of the First Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus. Paul was no doubt imprisoned twice, and between the two imprisonments, when he was a free man, the First Epistle to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus were written. If only one imprisonment is maintained, the date of the writing of these epistles is hopelessly obscure, besides other unexplainable difficulties. Paul reached Rome as a prisoner in the year 61 A.D. and remained there for two years (Acts xxvii:30). During this time he wrote the Epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and to Philemon. In each he speaks of the fact that he was a prisoner. He does not mention himself as a prisoner when he writes the first letter to Timothy. He tells Timothy that he hoped to come unto him shortly. In writing Titus he speaks of spending the winter in Nicopolis (Tit. iii:12). This is sufficient evidence that he was no longer a prisoner. His trusting confidence to be released had been realized (Phil. i:25; ii:24; Philemon, verse 22). The prayers in his behalf had been answered. For several years he was again at liberty, and Eusebius, a reliable source, states that it was known that Paul went forth preaching again. Another ancient source (the Muratori fragment, 170 A.D.) gives the information that Paul after leaving Rome went to Spain. The interval between the first and second imprisonment explains fully the statement in 2 Tim. iv:20, "Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick." When Paul was at Miletus before he came to Rome (Acts xx:17), he did not leave him there sick, but Trophimus accompanied him (Acts xxi: 29). Therefore Paul visited Miletus and Ephesus again; this must have been between his first and final imprisonment. Nor could the statement in 1 Tim. 1:3 be explained if Paul had written this Epistle before his arrest in Jerusalem. He wrote Timothy that he had besought him to abide still at Ephesus. The Book of Acts records two visits of Paul to Ephesus. In Acts xviii:19-22 we read of his brief visit, and in Acts xix:31 we have the record of his longer stay which lasted three years. At that time he did not request Timothy to stay in Ephesus, but he sent him into Macedonia (Acts xix:22). In his farewell address to the elders of Ephesus (Acts xx:29, 30) he predicted the coming danger for that church, grievous wolves coming from the outside and false teachers from the inside. Some eight years later this prediction came true. He visited Ephesus again, and left Timothy there facing the different heresies which had sprung up, and bearing witness against them. A short time after he wrote this first epistle to his beloved Timothy, beseeching him to abide still in Ephesus. The second epistle was written from Rome after

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