2 Timothy 4:1-22

Saluteth for greeteth, A.V. Do thy diligence ( σπούδασον); see 2 Timothy 4:9 and 2 Timothy 2:15, note. Before winter; lest, when winter storms come, it be impossible to do so. St. Paul's longing to have Timothy with him is apparent throughout. Eubulus; mentioned nowhere else. The name is not uncommon as a Greek name, and appears also in the patronymic Eubulides, and the female name Eubule. And Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia. Of these persons Linus is probably the same as is mentioned by Irenaeus and Eusebius as the first Bishop of Rome. Irenaeus (3:111, 3) says, "When the apostles, therefore, had founded the Church (of Rome) they entrusted the office ( λειτουργίαν) of the episcopate to Linus, of whom Paul makes mention in his Epistles to Timothy." Eusebius ('Ecc. Hist.,' Ecclesiastes 3:2) says, "Linus was ordained the first Bishop of Rome ( πρῶτος κληροῦται τὴν ἐπισκοπήν) after the martyrdom of Paul and Peter" (see, too, § 4 of the same book). Some identify him with a certain Llin in Welsh hagiography, said to be the son of Caractacus. As regards Pudens and Claudia, nothing is known about them unless the very ingenious and interesting theory of Archdeacon Williams is true, which is necessarily very uncertain. According to this theory, Claudia is the foreign lady, a Briton, whose marriage with Pudens is spoken of by Martial in two epigrams, and who also bore the cognomen of Rufina. It is supposed that she was the daughter of the British king Cogidubnus, the ally of the Romans and of the Roman governor, Aulus Plautius, whose wife Pomponia is said by Tacitus to have been impeached of the crime of embracing a "foreign superstition," which was probably Christianity. Cogidubnus appears by an ancient inscription now at Goodwood to have taken the name of the Emperor Claudius, being called Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, which would naturally lead to his daughter being called Claudia. And if further she was adopted by the wife of her father's ally, the name Rufina would be accounted for, as a distinguished branch of the gens Pomponia bore the name of Rufus. And Martial's epigram is addressed to "Rufus," as one interested in the marriage. Claudia may either have learnt Christianity from Pomponia, or may have conveyed the knowledge of the gospel to her. On the other hand, the name of Pudens appears on the Goodwood inscription as having given, while still a heathen, a site for a temple of Neptune and Minerva, which was built "pro salute" of the imperial family under the authority of King Cogidubnus—curiously connecting him with the British king. It is probable that Pudens and Claudia were not yet married. Thus it will be seen that, while this theory is borne out by many coincidences, it cannot by any means be adopted as certain. Lewin warmly espouses the theory, but hesitates between Caractacus and Cogidubnus as the father of Claudia. Farrar rejects the whole theory "as an elaborate rope of sand". If Linus was the son, and Claudia the daughter, of Caractacus, they would be brother and sister.

2 Timothy 4:22

The Lord for the Lord Jesus Christ, A.V. and T.R. The Lord be with thy spirit, etc. The manuscripts vary. The salutation as it stands in the R.T. is like the versicles, "The Lord be with you. A. And with thy spirit." It is a peculiarity of the salutation here that it is double—one to Timothy personally, μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματός σου; the other to the Church, ἡ χάρις μεθ ὑμῶν. 1 Corinthians 16:24 exhibits another variety. Grace (see 1 Timothy 6:21, note). The R.T. omits the "amen" at the end, as in 1 Timothy 6:21. Thus doses our last authentic account of this great apostle; these are, perhaps, the last words of him who wrought a greater change in the condition of mankind by his speech than any man that ever lived. All honour be to his blessed memory!

HOMILETICS

2 Timothy 4:1-8

The last charge.

The words of this chapter have the peculiar interest which attaches to the last words of one who was prominent above his fellow men, and they have this striking character, that the apostle, knowing that the time of his departure was at hand, when the great work of his life must cease as far as he was concerned, was intensely solicitous that the work should go on after his death with uninterrupted course and with undiminished force. It is one of the features of the holy unselfishness of St. Patti's character that he was not anxious for the success of the gospel only as far as that success was connected with his own labours, and was the fruit of his own apostolic energy; but that the growth of Christ's kingdom, and the increase of Christ's Church, and the salvation of souls, were things that he intensely longed for for their own sake, and without the slightest reference to himself. Accordingly, in the words before us, he throws his whole soul into the task of urging Timothy to carry on the work of the ministry with a vigour equal to his own. By the most solemn motives. speaking as in the immediate presence of the great Judge of the quick and the dead, with the expectation of the great epiphany in full view, with all the glories of the mediatorial kingdom spread out before his mind's eye, he urges him to the work—the ministerial work; the evangelistic work; the work in which Paul had spent his strength, and ungrudgingly used his splendid faculties; the work which is described in three words, "Preach the Word." For these words do really comprehend all the details which are added. Go as God's herald, and deliver to the people God's message—his message of abounding grace, his Word of pardon and forgiveness, his Word of love and reconciliation. Preach the Word which tells of Jesus Christ, of death to sin by his death upon the cross, of life to God by his resurrection from the dead. Preach the Word of holy obedience, of charity, and purity, and patience, and gentleness, and peace; the Word of like mindedness with Christ, of conformity to the will of God; the Word of truth and righteousness; the unerring Word, which is like God, and cannot lie. Preach the Word as erie who knows its worth and its power; as one who knows that the issues of life and death are bound up with it; as one who will brook no delay in preaching it. Preach it with special application to the varying needs of those who hear it. Reprove sin by its searching light. Rebuke offenders by its sharp two-edged blade. Exhort the weak and sluggish by its comforting and animating truths. Exemplify its excellence by the spirit in which you teach it. And be prepared for hardships and opposition and contradiction in your work. You may have to stand alone. You may see popular preachers all around you, leading astray silly souls by hundreds and thousands; tickling their ears with foolish fancies; ministering to their idle lusts; leading them away from the truth. But do thou "preach the Word." Flinch not, shrink not, wince not. Do the work of an evangelist, faithfully, steadfastly, boldly. Fill my place; take up my work; witness for Christ as I have witnessed; suffer for Christ as I have suffered; and then join me in the kingdom of glory. Such is the tenor of the last apostolic charge. The Lord grant to his Church an unfailing succession of men to carry out its directions, and to fulfil it in its spirit and in its letter!

2 Timothy 4:9-22

"Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth clave unto her."

In this little social incident of some three thousand years ago, which may have passed at the time with little observation, we have a pithy and pregnant example set before us, with the usual searching wisdom of Holy Scripture, of the difference between friendship and friendship, religion and religion, according as they lie deep in the roots of the heart or merely lie on the surface. The contrast between Demas and Luke affords another example of this important difference. We may believe that Demas had faith in Christ, and also that he had a measure of friendship for St. Paul. We need not suppose that, when he was a "fellow worker" with St. Paul in the good work of evangelizing the world, when he was his companion with Luke and others during his first imprisonment at Rome, and travelled with him again Romewards, he was playing the hypocrite, and that he was either false in his profession of faith to the Lord Jesus or of attachment to his apostle. But neither his faith nor his friendship had been put to a severe test. The force of St. Paul's character had hitherto borne him along like an impetuous torrent, he had confidence in his star; he felt sure, perhaps, that the cause which Paul espoused would triumph; and no difficulties had arisen sufficient to make him waver in his purpose. But suddenly all was changed. This second imprisonment, with its ominous trial, with the defection of the Asiatic Christians, and the desertion of friends, had altered the whole aspect of affairs. Instead of the triumphs of the faith and the supremacy of the great apostle, he saw the probability of a cruel death for St. Paul and his nearest companions. The trial was too great for his weak faith and his superficial friendship. Without denying Christ, and without withdrawing from his outward attachment to St. Paul, we can fancy him, perhaps, with protestations of undiminished love, and regrets at the necessity which called him away, hurrying off to Thessalonica, his native place. But Paul felt it to be, what it was, a desertion. "Orpah kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth clave unto her." In the words, "Only Luke is with me," we see the different stamp both of his faith and of his friendship. Luke the physician was as loving as he was loved. With admirable fidelity and unshaken constancy, he had followed his great master from Philippi to Troas, and from Troas to Jerusalem. In the graphic narratives of St. Paul's trials before the Sanhedrim, before Felix, before Festus and Agrippa; in his account of the shipwreck and of the arrival at Rome,—we trace his presence at all those eventful scenes. Through the two whole years of imprisonment he had never left him. And now that the end of that great career was drawing nigh, and the clouds were gathering up and darkening the evening of that glorious life, and various sorrows were thickening around that noble spirit, we read still, not in the inferences of Luke's modest narratives, but in the testimony of St. Paul himself, "Only Luke is with me." "Ruth clave unto her." "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God The Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part me and thee." We see, too, how he who had recorded in such graphic words "all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up," had imbibed the spirit of his Divine Master. He had not taught others to know Jesus Christ, without coming to the knowledge of him himself. And so his faith was firm in that day of shaking. He was ready to lose his life that he might gain it; and he stands before us, not only as the evangelist who teaches and delights us, but as the strong believer and the faithful friend, whose example is as persuasive as his words.

2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:2

A solemn charge to Timothy to make full proof of his ministry.

The prospect of his approaching death led the apostle to address his young disciple with deep and earnest feeling.

I. THE SOLEMN ADJURATION. "I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the quick and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom." The object of the apostle is to impart to Timothy a solemn sense of responsibility in the discharge of his ministry.

1. All preachers must one day give an account of their stewardship. Such a thought ought to stimulate them to greater faithfulness.

2. Their responsibility is to God and Jesus Christ, who are Witnesses of their work, as they have made them good ministers of the New Testament.

3. Jesus Christ is the Judge of the two classes of living and dead saints, who in the last day shall appear before his judgment seat. All judgment is committed to him, and he will exercise it righteously.

4. The judgment will take place at "his appearing and his kingdom;" that is, at his second coming.

5. The reward of fidelity is also held out to faithful servants in connection with the glory of" his kingdom."

II. THE DUTIES OF THE FAITHFUL MINISTER. "Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching."

1. His first and pre-eminent duty is to preach the gospel, because it is the power of God to salvation. There is no injunction to administer the sacraments, though that would be included in his duties. There is nothing, therefore, to justify the higher place which Tractarians assign to the sacraments beside the Word. It is a significant fact that the success of the apostles, as recorded in the Acts, is never once attributed to the sacraments, but always to the Word.

2. The minister must have an earnest urgency in every part of his work. He must create opportunities where he cannot find them; he must work at times both convenient and inconvenient to himself; he must approach the willing opportunely and the unwilling inopportunely.

3. He must reprove, or convince, those in error as to doctrine.

4. He must rebuke the unruly, or immoral in life.

5. He must "exhort with all long suffering and teaching"—exercising due patience, and using all the resources of a sanctified understanding, to encourage men to keep to the ways of good doctrine and holiness.—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:3, 2 Timothy 4:4

The waywardness and restiveness of so called Christians afresh incentive to fidelity in ministers.

This is an argument from the future to tell upon present duty.

I. THE REASON OF THE APOSTASY. "For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine."

1. The gospel doctrine is sound, because it necessitates a holy life, and holds the gratification of sinful passions to be inconsistent with the hopes of salvation.

2. Evil men cannot endure it, because it is so opposed to the corruption of human nature, and therefore treat it with neglect, if not with contempt.

3. The apostle foresees the growth of evil in the Church, and therefore seeks to prepare ministers to war against it.

II. THE EFFECT OF THIS MORAL DISGUST AT THE GOSPEL. "But, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts."

1. They will not discard the ministry absolutely. They will only exchange one class of ministers for another. But they will vastly multiply the number of their religious guides.

2. The itch for novelty led to the multiplication of teachers. They were fickle, unsettled, and uneasy. They wanted to hear new things or smooth things, such as would reflect the caprices of a corrupt nature.

3. The reason for the whole rabble of teachers that they gathered to themselves is to be found in their wish to have their fancies gratified—"after their own lusts." They wanted indulgent guides, who would flatter the pride of human nature, and not lay too great a stress upon the importance of a holy life. The sound doctrine was necessarily allied to a pure morality.

III. THE RETRIBUTION THAT AWAITS ON SUCH A PERVERSION OF JUDGMENT. "And will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables."

1. It is a solemn fact in Divine providence, that when men do not like to return to the knowledge of the truth, God gives them up to a reprobate mind, so that they lose all relish for sound doctrine.

2. It is an equally solemn fact that, if the truth is repudiated, the heart will not therefore cease to exercise itself about religious concerns. The heart cannot long remain empty. Fables rush in to occupy the place which denies a footing to truth, just as infidelity has a vacuum-creating power, which superstition immediately rushes in to fill up. What a waste of soul!—profitless fables taken in exchange for soul-saving truth!—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:5

The duty of Timothy in trying times.

I. "BUT BE THOU SOBER IN ALL THINGS."

1. The presence of false teachers necessitated a wakeful attitude, a constant presence of mind, a quick discernment of opportunities for advancing the truth.

2. There ought to be a consistently sober and watchful care extending through the whole life of the minister, who has to "give account of souls."

II. "SUFFER HARDSHIP."

1. If the minister fears the anger of men, he will not be faithful to God.

2. There is a reward for brave suffering. (1 Timothy 2:3-12.)

3. The example of the apostle's life was ever before Timothy as a powerful incentive to endurance. (1 Timothy 3:10-12.)

III. "DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST."

1. There was a separate class of officers called evangelists in the apostolic Church (Ephesians 4:11), whose special business was to break new ground in the open fields of heathenism or the narrower confines of Judaism. They preached the gospel, while pastors shepherded the flocks. But we are not to suppose that pastors did not also "do the work of an evangelist." They had saints and sinners under their care in all places.

2. As Timothy had been lately occupied in organizing the Church life of Ephesus, the admonition was not needless that he should henceforth devote himself to the direct work of evangelization, as the best antidote to heresy and impiety.

IV. "MAKE FULL PROOF OF THY MINISTRY." This was to be done:

1. By constant labours.

2. By unswerving faithfulness to God and man.

3. By efforts to save sinners and edify saints, which were seen to be successful. Such a man fulfils his ministry, for he seeks not his own things, but the things of Christ.—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:6-8

The nearness of the apostle's death, and his prospects in connection with it.

He urges Timothy to increased zeal on account of his own approaching departure.

I. THE IMMINENCE OF HIS DEATH. "For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is at hand."

1. Mark the calmness with which the apostle contemplates a violent death. There is no tremor, or hurry, or impatience in his last days. The language is singularly composed. He knew that Nero would soon put an end to his life, for that monster of cruelty and crime was even then striking out wildly against the Christians. Nothing but an assured hope and a living faith could maintain the spirit in such trying circumstances.

2. The apostle is not too preoccupied with his own approaching sufferings to forget the cause for which he is now about to surrender his life. He is now more urgent than ever in his instructions to Timothy.

II. THE HAPPY RETROSPECT OF A USEFUL LIFE. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith."

1. The good fight ended.

2. The race ended.

3. The faith preserved.

III. THE BLESSED PROSPECTS IN STORE FOR HIM. "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give to me at that day: and not only to me, but also to all them that have loved his appearing."

1. The reward. "The crown of righteousness."

It was not a crown of ambition. It was not won by inflicting miseries on the human race.

2. The certainty and manner of its bestowal.

(a) as matter of grace, for the Judge "awards" it of grace; and

(b) as matter of righteousness, for, as righteous Judge, he will not allow the works of believers to go unrewarded (Revelation 14:13).

3. The character of those receiving the reward. "Them that have loved his appearing."

2 Timothy 4:9-12

The apostle's loneliness and need of assistance and comfort.

The longing for sympathy and help in his hour of trial was natural. "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me." There were several reasons for his desire to see Timothy, apart from the natural anxiety to see the most attached of his faithful disciples.

I. THE APOSTLE HAD BEEN DESERTED BY DEMAS. "Demas hath forsaken me."

1. This brought great distress to the apostle:

2. The cause of the desertion was more distressing. "Having loved this present world." It may have been love of life or love of ease, or the desire to get back to old associations at Thessalonica (probably his native place), or the desire for pleasure or wealth. But it was a fatal passion. The love of this world is inconsistent with the true life, for all that is in the world is evil—"the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life." It is all, in the present order of things, opposed to God and destructive to man. Nothing but Christ can deliver us from the power of this present evil world (Galatians 1:4).

II. THE APOSTLE WAS NOW ALMOST ALONE. Other fellow labourers had gone on their errands of usefulness to various quarters—no doubt with his heart's consent: Crescens to Galatia; Titus to Dalmatia, on the Adriatic; Tychicus, an old friend, and once before sent to Ephesus, goes back there by the apostle's directions. Luke alone of all the ministers of Christ keeps the aged apostle company; for though such brethren as Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia now dutifully attend upon him, yet the apostle is anxious to see Timothy, and begs that Mark may accompany him, for "he is useful to me for ministering," both in evangelistic and in personal service.—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:13

The apostle's directions concerning his cloke.

It has been considered beneath the dignity of inspiration that there should be such a trivial record. But the criticism is singularly superficial.

I. THE APOSTLE'S DIRECTIONS. "The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, bring when thou comest, and the books, especially the parchments."

1. There is no evidence that the cloke was an ecclesiastical vestment; for there is no evidence of vestments being worn at all in the primitive Church. It was a thick cloke or mantle which the apostle needed in view of the approaching winter. His death might be near at hand, but, as its day was uncertain, it was natural he should provide against the winter cold.

2. It was a precious consignment that was left with Carpus, the Christian disciple, at Troas. It included, besides his cloke, books and parchments.

II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE APOSTLE'S DIRECTIONS.

1. The request concerning his cloke implied that he was a poor man, as well as exposed to hardship and cold.

2. It suggests that he was partially deserted by the Yeoman Christians. Why could they not give him or lend him a cloke? What had become of the Roman Christians who met him, so many years before, fifty miles from the city, and gave him such a hearty welcome?

3. It proves his personal independence. He will not ask a cloke from any one.—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:15

The warning against Alexander the coppersmith.

I. THE CHARACTER OF THIS MAN. "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil… for he greatly withstood our words." This implies that he had been at Rome, and was still an enemy to the gospel (1 Timothy 1:20), as in the day when the apostle delivered him and Hymenaeus over to Satan at Ephesus. Probably trade interests may have inspired the fierceness of his hatred to the apostle, for he may have been an idol maker. He was insulting and spiteful and obstinate in his gainsaying.

II. THE RETRIBUTION THAT WOULD OVERTAKE HIM. "The Lord will render to him according to his works."

1. This is to state a fact in Divine providence, quite irrespective of the apostle's wishes or feelings.

2. Transgressors against the cause of God have to reckon in the last resort, not with humble apostles, but with God himself.

III. WARNING AGAINST HIS WAYS. "Of whom be thou ware also." He was a heretic and a blasphemer, and as such had been delivered to Satan, and was still perversely opposed to the truth. Timothy was warned to be watchful against his devices. It was no personal injury, but resistance to the gospel, that dictated this counsel.—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:16-18

The apostle's trial before Nero, with its memorable incidents.

I. His DESERTION BY MAN. "At my first defence no one took my part, but all forsook me; may it not be laid to their account."

1. The apostle had to make his defence before the emperor. There is no record of the nature of the charge. It was probably a charge of sedition or disobedience to the pagan authorities, which, on account of the close complication of civil and religious duties in the state, could not be explained to the satisfaction of a ruler jealous of civil obedience.

2. The saints at Rome deserted the apostle through fear. They failed to support him either by their presence, their sympathy, or their witness in his favour. Their weakness and timidity must have been a sore trial to the apostle. Yet he could remember that his Divine Master had been similarly deserted in his last hours.

3. The apostle's prayer for these timorous saints. "May it not be laid to their account." This implies:

(a) He would be concerned for the great weakness of their faith, with its accompanying depression and discomfort;

(b) for the effects of their weakness on the high repute of the gospel;

(c) and he would seek their restoration in the very spirit of his Divine Master.

II. IF MAN FORSOOK HIM, HE WAS NOT FORSAKEN BY GOD. "But the Lord stood by me, and strengthened me; that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear." Like his Divine Master, he might say, "Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me."

1. The Divine support accorded to him. The secret but gracious presence of the Lord delivered him from all unworthy fears of man. He would feel, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" He was strengthened inwardly unto all long suffering with joyfulness; so that he could make his defence with all clearness and courage, with all presence of mind, and with all freedom of thought and expression.

2. The end of this Divine support was that the gospel might be still more fully known at Rome and elsewhere by all Gentiles.

III. THE EFFECT OF HIS DEFENCE. "And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." He had, for a time, escaped condemnation. Nero was the cruel lion out of whose power the Lord had delivered him.

IV. THE APOSTLE'S ANTICIPATION OF A STILL HIGHER DELIVERANCE. "And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom."

1. This is no declaration that the apostle shall escape death, for he had already spoken of himself as "already being offered." (2 Timothy 4:6.)

2. It is a declaration that he shall be carried beyond the sphere of evil in every form, and translated securely into the heavenly kingdom. All the evil influences at work around him would not affect him. There is not a note of fear in his last days.

V. ASCRIPTION OF GLORY TO HIS DIVINE DELIVERER. "To whom be the glory forever and ever."

1. The glory is here ascribed to the Son of God, an express evidence of his Divinity.

2. There is no time more appropriate for such an ascription of glory as after deliverance from death and evil.—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:19-22

Salutations and personal notices.

I. SALUTATIONS. "Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus."

1. The apostle remembers his absent friends in his solitude, but especially those who gave him such hearty cooperation at Corinth or Ephesus.

2. He likewise transmits to Timothy the Christian salutations of Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia, Roman saints, of eminence and grace in the Church, yet who failed to stand by him on his memorable trial.

II. NOTICES. "Erastus abode at Corinth." Probably the chamberlain of that city (Romans 16:22), who once showed much kindness to the apostle, and afterwards accompanied Timothy on a journey into Macedonia (Acts 19:22). "Trophimus I left at Miletus sick." This was a Gentile Christian of Ephesus, whose presence with the apostle at Jerusalem caused such an uproar (Acts 21:29). Miletus was a seaport of Caria, thirty miles from Ephesus. Trophimus would have been with the apostle at Rome, probably, but for his sickness. The apostle left him at Miletus, probably, shortly before his present imprisonment.

III. FINAL WORDS FOR TIMOTHY. "Do thy diligence to come before winter." We see here the tender anxiety of the apostle to see his young friend before death. If he did not come at once, the severities of the winter might prevent his journey altogether. "The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you." We have here a double benediction—one addressed singly to Timothy, the other to Timothy and the Ephesian Church. The presence of Christ would be his comfort and stay in every difficulty, and strengthen him forevery duty.—T.C.

2 Timothy 4:2

The apostolic injunction.

"Preach the Word." Timothy had not to create a gospel, but to preach one; and the "Word" is broad and vast enough for any preacher. The cross has for its circumference all truth, and is to be carried into all spheres of life.

I. PREACH IT WITH INSTANCY. It is not a mere philosophy to interest students as an esoteric study; nor is it a mere elaborate theological thesis to be proven true. It has to do with "the present salvation" and the future well being of man. Instancy: for:

1. The season may be only now. Tomorrow preacher or hearer, or both, may be gone.

2. The truth can never be out of season. We need it always—in all places, in all our duties, temptations, and trials.

II. PREACH IT WITH AUTHORITY. That is, with the authority of truth, not your own ex-cathedra authority. "Meekly;" but not as though your congregations were patrons to be pleased, or Sanhedrims to try your opinions. Modestly; but with authority; not, as I said, your own authority, but the authority of truth, which has its own witness within. So you will reprove men fearlessly, never hiding them from themselves by cunning words of flattery. And you will "rebuke"—for evil soon spreads if it be not exposed and condemned at once—just as Nathan boldly faced David, and said, "Thou art the man."

III. PREACH IT WITH EXHORTATION. The teacher is not to be merely a scornful satirist of immorality—a sort of Juvenal. Nor is he to be a lightning conductor of Divine wrath; he is to seek to save men. He has not done his work when he has revealed the Law of God against evil. He is to remember that the Christ he preaches is the Son of man who is come, "not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."

1. Long suffering is to be the spirit of his method. Remembering that humanity is frail and fallen, the preacher must be sympathetic, as himself needing mercy.

2. Doctrine is to be his remedy. The great revelation of a Divine Saviour and the promised Spirit, the Comforter.—W.M.S.

2 Timothy 4:6

Life's evening hour.

"For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." St. Paul felt sure that the enemies of the gospel would be successful in their designs upon his life. Sooner or later he knew that the lions or the flames, the executioner's axe or the cruel cross, would complete his earthly course. But as he had made an "offering" of his life to Christ, so he was ready in death to be offered up for the Master's sake.

I. THE APOSTOLIC READINESS. Although a prisoner, he had been permitted to be a preacher in the neighbouring camp of Caesar's palace during his first imprisonment at Rome. But not so now. Amid the Praetorian Guard alone could he testify now; and as the soldier to whom he was chained by the wrist would often be changed, he had the opportunity of speaking to each one in turn the good word of the kingdom of God. His imprisonments had been preceded by missionary journeys, in which he had planted Churches of Christ everywhere—Churches which had become centres of evangelization and edification. He was "ready;" for his character had been moulded by "great tribulation;" so that his soul was purified by the grace of God working there the self-conquests of his nature. The righteous indignation of a strong nature—which we know full well once in his apostolate would have been aroused at his adversaries—had been softened into a calm submission to the Divine will, and he was conscious that God would take care of his own Church in the perilous times which had come. Moreover, Timothy was there to take up the great work and to preach the Word. Paul was ready for the "rest;" and the "rest" was ready for him.

II. THE APOSTLE'S TIME. "The time of my departure." All our times are in God's hand: "the time to be born and the time to die." This was with Paul no fatalistic creed; he did not forget that there was a divinely wise will ordering all.

1. Death was a departure. It was not the habit of St. Paul to dwell on death in itself, but rather on its glorious issues to the Christian. The faith was strong in him. The motto—Mors janua vitoe—"Death is the gate of life," was the spirit of his creed.

2. But death was not the departure of the Christ. He was here. By his Spirit he was still working in the hearts of all who believed. The Christ in him was the Christ in Timothy too; and St. Paul well knew that the triumphant chariot of the Redeemer stops at no man's grave.—W.M.S.

2 Timothy 4:7

The battle finished.

"I have fought a good fight." Nothing in nature is more beautiful than the all-glorious sunset; even the storm clouds make it a more magnificent scene. So it was with St. Paul. Amid the threatening clouds of persecution the Saviour's glory shone all around and about him, and lighted up the dark firmament of the martyr experiences.

I. THE PAST FIGHT. He was a man of war in the best sense, and had fought a good fight. He had conflicts in himself—"fightings without, and fears within." He had opposition from the Jews of the ancient Church, and from the Judaistic Christians, who were trying to pervert the gospel! Rome, that dreaded sedition, looked upon him as a stirrer-up of strife, and though St. Paul was not an enemy of Caesar, this gave Caesar's enemies an opportunity for casting opprobrium on him. He had, too, as we all have, invisible enemies, so that he did not war only "against flesh and blood." The past fight was a lifelong one with him, for he had at first to withstand even his Christian coadjutors in his determination to proclaim and to preserve the universality and spirituality of the gospel kingdom; he boldly and triumphantly withstood even Peter to the face, and so gave to the Church of all ages the Magna Charta of its Divine freedom.