1 This the Apoſtle addeth after he had finiſht his Epitle, and taken his farewel, as a Proof that the Epiſtle was zcnuine, and care from himſelf, Becauſe it may be there were {ome then who did counterfeit his Epiſtles, as there have been many fince who have counter ited Creeds, Liturgies, Goſpels, Writings of the Fathers, &c. and.he knew it might be of dangerous conſequence to the Churches,to have his Wri- tings counterfeited, Hereticks in ſeveral Ages, and the Church of Fgme particularly, hath herein been deeply guilty, And though it's probable the Body of this Epiſtle was writ by ſome Amanuenfs,a; is evi. dent of the Epiſtle to the Romans, that it was writ by one Tertiz:, Rom, 16. 22. and when he tells the Galatians,Gzl, 6. 11, he wrote their Epi. file with his own Hand, fo Phil, 1. g. it implies ſometimes he did nor ſo. Yet this Salutation he wrote with his uwn Hand, which he pra- Aiſed not only in this, but ir all his other Epiſtles, as he here aifrmed,
Chap. FTI,
the Lord be with jou all, which ſhews his Affettion to them all, though in 1 | he had reproved ſharply the Diſorders that ſome were guilty of, And| And he wrote It 1 ſuch Charadt-rs whereby nis own. Hand mizht b2 a greater thing he could not defire for them. It comprehends all ble-| known. EIſe it was an eaſte matter tor any Im poſtor to wrice the ſ:m2 ſings in it, and the very bleſſedneſs of Heaven it ſelf, As an uſual fare, words, and the words of it are here ſet down, but cl{ewhere explained; well word Alteu is a recommending a Perſon to God, | and therefore nothing is further necdtul here,
}
17 The ſalutation of me Paul with mine own hand, 18 The grace of our Lord Jeſus Citi he with vou all,
which is the token in every epiſtle : ſo I write /, | Amen.
IL T I I & RE ©
The ARGUMENT T.
Imothy is thought to have been a Native of Lyſtra in Lycaonia, AQts 16. 1. bis Mother Eunice 2vas a Jewels, ACts 1C' 1. A Believer, 2 Tim: 1. 5. His Father a Greek, As 16. 1. but (poſſibly) proſelyted to the Fexwiſh Religion. They ave Timothy his Name, fignifying thereby their pious deſire that their Son ſhould Fear and Honour God, and be put im mind
of his Duty by his Name. They bred him up in the Knowledge of the Scriptures from a Child. When it was he firſt became
a Diſciple to Paul doth not appear, but it appears from 2 Tim. 3. 11. that he was with Paul at Antioch, and Iconium, 2»h:ch
as before he come to Lyſtra, Acts 16. 1. where Panl circumciſed him. After this Paul made him his Companion, ſcent him
upon ſeveral Meſſages: He was a ſickly Perſon, 1 Tim. 5. 23. but eminent in Gifts and Graces, 2 Tim. 1. 5. & 3. 15,
1 Cor. 4.17. After this he was ordained a Minifter by Paul and the Presbytery, 2 Tim. 1.6, He became wery dear t9 Paul for bis Faithfulneſs, Phil. 2. 19, 20, 21. ſo as he calls him his beloved Son and Faithful, 1 Cor. 4. 17. His Son in the Faith, 1 Tim. 1. 2. hz dearly beloved Son, his Fellow-worker, Fellow-labourer, &'c. Paul left him a time at 1 hef- falonica and Berea, As 17- 13, 14. then ſends for him to Athens, As 17.15. he came to him at Corinth, Ads 18. 5, Thence he ſent him into Macedonia, Adts 19. 22.. from thence he came to Corinth, and goes 2vith Paul into Aſia, Adts 20. 4. where Paul intreats him to ſtay ſome time at Epheſus, as an Evangeliſt, to ſettle the CP2+:-b»5 there, 2. Tim. 4. 5. From thence he ſends for him to Rome, 2 Tim. 4. 9. and ſends Tichycus in his rocm to Epheſus, 2 Tim. 4. 12. Paul having left Timothy a Young Man in this great Truſt, being himſelf to be abſent, writes this Epiſtle to him, to encourage him againſ# &1l D angers, and to dire} him in the managery of his Office. The Scope of the Epiſt e 1s to dire(t Timothy n the firſt place, and then all Miniſters of the Goſpel how to behave themſetues in the Miniſterial Work, as to Preaching, Praying, Govern- ment, oppoſing Gainſayers, &c. ſo as it is the moſt porn Direction we hare in all the Seripture for the diſcharge of the Mi- niſterial Office. The time when Paul wrote his Epiſtle is incertainly Judged, but gueſſed to be the One and Twentieth Year after Chriſt's Death, and about the Nineteenth after PauPs Converſion, it is certam it was 2hen he was in Macedonia, and
Col.1.27 b * which 1s our hope c.
*afts16, 2 Unto * Timothy my own ton in the faith : * Grace,
.1Thef. mercy, 4rd peace from God our'Father, and Jeſus Chriſt our Lord.
IPet,1,2, ;
befure he returned to Epheſus, Acts 29. I. CHAP. L The uſual Salutation, 1, 2, Heleft Timothy at Epheſus, to take care that 20 ſtrange DoQrines ſhould be broached in the Church, 1====q, The right Uſe and End of the Law, and for whom it is appointed, 5 -— 10, The Goſp:I was committed in truſt 10 him, that he mighs be an Example of Gracz 10 the Chief of Sinners, 11 16, A Doxology, 17. Hs Charge to Timothy : of Hymeneus and Atexandcr, 18 20s 1 Aul an Apoſtle of Jeſus Chrift a, by the command- ment of God our Saviour,and the Lord Jeſus Chriſt,
4 One immediately ſeat by Jeſus Chriſt, by his Voice from Heaven, As 9. 5. though nor by his Voice upon Earth, (as thoſe Marth, 16,) b Through the Will of God, 1 Cor. x. 1, not his permiſſtve, but perceptive Will, and this is the ſame with his being called to be an Apoſtle, Kom. 1, 1. & x Cor. 1, 1, by our Lord Fejus Chriſt, the Father not being ex- cluded, but the Son only being named, to whom the Mediatory King- dom was committed. « Cur 4zope, there 18 no more in the (Greek) that is, the Object of our Hope : as when 'tis ſaid Gen,z1, 53, that Facob ſware by the fear of his Father Iſaac, that 1s, by the Deity whom his Father feared. This glorious Eulogy belongs to our Saviour, in whom there is a concurrence of all that is requiſite to free us from deftruQiye Evils, and to make us everlaſtingly happy : for he is Wiſdom, Righte- ouſneſs, Sanfification, and Redemption, Hence the Gentiles without Chriſt are ſaid to be without Hope, Eph. 2. 12, And from hence 'tis evi- dent, that Jeſus Chriſt is the Ecernal God for if he were only a Man, though in excellence above all others, he could not be our hope 3 for curſed is be that truſteth in man, Jer. 17. 5.