2 Tim. iii. 15. From a child thou hast known the Holy Scrip- tures, which are able to make thee ivise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
IN seasons of heavy trial it is of great advantage to have had a long acquaintance with the Holy Scriptures and the principles of religion. A novice is apt to be astonished, and to wonder that a change so favourable as that which he has experienced, (''from a brier to a myrtle-tree V') should excite nothing but enmity in those around him. But a person conversant with the word of God, and esta- blished with his grace, has counted the cost : he knows what he is to expect : he knows what others have experienced before him ; and the very storms
a Isai. Iv. 13.
which threaten his existence, serve only to confirm him in the truths he has professed. In this view St. Paul encourages Timothy to hold fast the profes- sion of his faith without wavering, and to " continue in the things he had learned," without being intimi- dated by persecutors, or deceived by seducers ^
From his words we shall consider
I. The early knowledge of Timothy —
He was acquainted with the Holy Scriptures —
[By " the Holy Scriptures" we must understand, not merely the zoords, but the doctrmes, of Scripture. Doubtless Timothy was acquainted with our fall in Adam, and the con- sequent depravity of our nature. He knew also the true scope of all the sacrifices as pointing to that Lamb of God who was to take away the sin of the whole world. Nor could he be ignorant of the necessity of divine influences, in order to a renovation of our hearts, and a restoration of the soul to the Divine image.
But it was not a theoretical knowledge even of these things which would have satisfied the mind of the Apostle : it must have been a practical and experimental knowledge of them. He must have felt and bewailed the plague of his own heart : he must have relied on Jesus as his only hope : he must have been renewed in the spirit of his mind by the power of the Holy Ghost: in short, he must have been " a new creature in Christ Jesus," or else the Apostle would never have thought his knowledge a proper ground of congratulation.]
These he knew from a child — [It is generally thought that children are incapable of understanding the mysterious truths of the Gospel. We readily acknowledge that these truths exceed the capacity, not of children only, but of the wisest philosopher ; for " the natural man cannot know them, because they are spiritually discerned*^." But God can give a spiritual discernment to children, as well as to adults ; and, supposing this to be given, there is nothing in the Gospel which a child may not under- stand as well as an adult. Children may have their affections exercised on things proper to call them forth. If God dis- cover to them that they are sinners, and obnoxious to his wrath, they may fear his displeasure: if he shew them that he has provided salvation for them in Christ Jesus, they may hope in his mercy: if he reveal his pardoning love to their souls, they may rejoice in his salvation. The difficulty lies,
^ ver. 12—15. " 1 Cor. ii. 14.