But the Apostle had very different persons in view. To understand his assertion aright, we must consi- der it,
II. Constructively, in reference to the Church of Christ— Beyond all doubt, he referred, in his own mind, to all the Christians at Rome. But we are not to sup- pose that there was not one amongst them that, was possessed of true piety : we must rather suppose, that their piety was of an inferior order, and that there was not amongst them any one duly qualified for the work which he would gladly have assigned him. They were all too timid, and too selfish, for the office to which, for want of any other suitable person, he had destined his beloved Timothy. Hence, in somewhat strong terms, he complained of them, as " seeking their own things, and not the things of Jesus Christ ;" not intending thereby to deny their piety altogether, but only to intimate that it was at a low ebb. And how applicable this reproof is to the professors of our day, will clearly appear, whilst we observe how little there is amongst us,
1. Of self-denial —
[In whatever is gratifying to self, we are all forward enough: but if we foresee that the path of duty will involve us in difficulties and trials, we are ready to make any excuse for declining to pursue it. We dread the thought of sacrificing our present comforts, and of encountering hardships of any kind. Instead of " counting all things but loss for Christ," we pause long before we will part with any thing: and we desire, for the most part, to have as cheap a religion as we can. The Apostle, giving us a catalogue of his sufferings for Christ, (in which he far exceeded any other of the Apostles,) says, " I was in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews, five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods ; once was I stoned ; thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day have I been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren : in weariness and painful- ness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings