No X.

2 TIMOTHY.

THE second Epistle to Timothy has a very peculiar character. It is the expression of his heart who, outside Palestine, had, under God, founded and built the Church of God on earth, and it was written in sight of its failure, and its departure from the principles on which he had established it. God remained faithful; His foundation was sure and immoveable; but the work committed into the hands of men, was already enfeebled and decaying. The consciousness of this state of things, which moreover betrayed itself in the way in which the apostle himself was then forsaken, oppressed his heart, and he pours it out into the bosom of his faithful Timothy. By this means, the Spirit instructs us in the solemn truth, that the Church has not kept its first estate, and sets before us the ways of safety for those who seek God, and desire to please Him, in such a state of things as this.

The apostle John gives the history of the fall of the Church here below, and of its judgment, and that of the world likewise. He also sets before us a life, which, apart from all question of the Church's condition, abides ever the same, which renders us capable of enjoying God, and makes us resemble Him in His nature and character.

As a witness, John was to remain until the Lord came; but Paul sees for himself the ruin of that which he had built and watched over so faithfully. He had spent himself for the Church, accomplishing that which was left of the sufferings of Christ; and he had to sce that which he had so much loved, which he had cared for, even as a mother cherishes her nurseling, which he had planted as God's plant on the earth, grow feeble as 6

VOL. XI.PT.II.

to its condition and testimony in the world, depart from the source of strength, and become corrupt. What a painful experience! But it is that of the servant of God in all ages, and in all dispensations. He sees, indeed, the power of God acting, to plant the testimony on earth, but he sees that men soon fail in it. The house inhabited by the Holy Ghost becomes dilapidated and in disorder. Nevertheless, and we love to repeat it with the apostle, the sure foundation of the Lord abides for ever. Whatever may be the condition of the whole company, the individual is always to depart from all iniquity, and to maintain, by himself, if need be, the true testimony of the name of Christ. This can never fail the faithful soul.

In view of the mixture and confusion which began to shew itself in the Church, the apostle's comfort was founded on these two principles, while remembering and joyfully availing himself of the communion and faithfulness of some precious souls. He had such as Timothy and Onesiphorus, amid the afflictions of the Gospel and the sorrow of being forsaken by so many who were seals to his ministry before the Lord.

The apostle begins by taking the ground of grace, and of individual life-which never changes in essential character-outside Church privileges. Not that these had changed; but he could no longer connect them with the general body on earth. He calls himself here an apostle, according to the promise of eternal life, which is in Christ Jesus. It is not only the Messiah, it is not the Head of the body, it is the eternal life which is in Him.

Paul addresses his dearly beloved son Timothy, whose affection he remembers. He desired greatly to see him, being mindful of his tears, shed, probably, at the time when Paul was made prisoner, or when he was separated from him on that occasion, or when he heard of it. It is the confidence of a friend that is speaking to one whose heart he knew. We see something of this, but in the perfection that was peculiar to Himself, in Jesus on the Cross, in that which He said to John, and to His mother. A similar form would have been unsuitable

in Paul. The affections of men show themselves in and by their wants, the wants of their hearts; those of the Lord by his condescension. With Him, all is in itself perfect. With us, it is only by grace that all is in its right place.

Ver. 3. The apostle does not speak any longer of the high character of his work, but of his personal position, rightly felt according to the Spirit. He had served God, following in the steps of his forefathers, with a pure conscience. In every way he was a vessel made unto honor. For more than one generation, his ancestors were distinguished for a good conscience; and personal piety, founded on the truth, showed itself in the service of God. Paul was not here expressing a judgment as to the inward condition of each generation; it was their character. He calls to mind a similar fact, with regard to Timothy, in whose case, however, Judaism, as to its outward obligations, is totally absent; for the father of Timothy was a Greek, and the marriage of his Jewish mother was unclean according to the law, and would have rendered Timothy also unclean, and deprived him of Jewish rights; and, in fact, he had not been circumcised when an infant. Paul did it, which also was not according to the law, unless Timothy had become a proselyte. Both heathens and their children were excluded, as we read in Nehemiah. Paul's act was above the law. Here he takes no notice of it; he leaves the Gentile father out of sight, and speaks only of the personal unfeigned faith of Timothy's mother and grandmother, and that of his beloved disciple himself.

The state of the Church, was only an additional occasion for the exercise of his faith, and for his zealous activity. Difficulties and dangers multiplied on every hand; the unfaithfulness of Christians was added to all the rest. But God is none the less with His people. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind, so that the Lord's labourer, the man of God, he who kept himself in communion with God, in order to represent Him on the earth, was to stir up the gift that was in Him, and, as the apostle expresses it elsewhere, with admirable and

touching force and clearness-to endure the afflictions of the Gospel, according to the power of God. Here, in the case of Timothy, the apostle could make mention of a special gift of the Spirit, which had been conferred upon Timothy, through the laying on of his hands. In the first Epistle, he had spoken of the prophecy which had called him or pointed him out for the possession of this gift, and told us that it had been accompanied by the laying on of the hands of the elders; here he tells us, that the laying on of his own hands was the means of bestowing it upon him.

The apostle reminds him of this proof of power and reality in his ministry (and in that of Paul himself,) in view of this period, when its exercise was more difficult. When all is prosperous, and the progress of the Gospel. is remarkable, so that even the world is struck with it, the work is found to be easy, in spite of difficulties and opposition, and, such is man-even in consequence of this opposition one is bold and persevering. But when others, Christians even, forsake the labourer, when evil, and the deceptions of the enemy come in, when love has grown cold, and, because one is faithful, prudence takes alarm, and desires a less forward walk; to stand firm in circumstances like these, to persevere in the work, and maintain one's courage, is not an easy thing. We must possess Christianity with God, so that we know why we stand fast; we must be ourselves in communion with Him, in order to have the strength necessary to continue labouring in His name, and the sustainment of His grace. at all times.

God, then, has given us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind; the apostle had received such a position from God, that he had been able to bestow this spirit on Timothy, who was not to be ashamed either of the testimony, which was losing outwardly its onward current in the world, nor of Paul, who was now a prisoner. How precious to possess that which is eternal, that which is founded on the power, and on the work of God Himself. There were, indeed, the afflictions of the Gospel, they would be endured according to the power of God. God has saved us, has called us with

a holy calling, not according to our works, as though anything depended on man, but according to His own purpose, and His grace, given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. This is the sure and immovable foundation, a rock for our souls, against which the waves of difficulty break in vain, showing a strength which we could not resist for a moment, but showing also, their total powerlessness against the purpose and work of God. The efforts of the enemy only prove, that he is without strength in the presence of that which God is, and of that which He has done for us.

That which we have to seek, is the power of the Spirit, in order that we may realize this gift of God by faith, and that we may abide, as to our hearts, as to our praetical faith, in the sense of our union with Christ, upon this immutable foundation, which is nothing less than the immutability, and the glory of God Himself. For His purpose has been manifested; that purpose, which -gave us a place, and a portion in Christ Himself, was now manifested through the appearance of that very Christ.

It is no longer a nation chosen in the world to display in it the principles of the government of God, and of His ways in righteousness, in patience, in kindness, and in power, on the earth; however unchangeable His counsels, however sure His calling, as manifested in His dealings with regard to the people whom He called.

It is a counsel of God, formed and established in Christ, before the world existed, which has its place in the ways of God, outside and above the world, in union with the person of His Son, and in order to manifest a people united with Him in glory. Thus it is a grace which was given us in Him, before the world was. Hidden in the counsels of God, this purpose of God was manifested with the manifestation of Him, in whom it had its accomplishment. It was not merely blessings and dealings of God with regard to men,-it was life eternal. Thus Paul was an apostle, according to the promise of eternal life. While Christ Himself was alive, although life was in Him, this purpose of God was not accom plished with respect to us. The power of life, divinė power in life, was to manifest itself in the destruction of