Ver. 12.-TM grounds of hi, Joyful, ~ under all his sufferings. L Hu APOSTLESHIP WAS THE CAUSE OF HIS SUFFERINGS... For which cause I also am suff'erlDg these things "-imprisonment, solitude, the hatred of Jew and Gentile. He estranged the Jews by preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, and he offended the Gentiles by denouncing their idolatries and undermining their lucrative superstitions. II. HE OWNS NO BRAME IN THE GOSPEL. It may be an offence to the Greek and a stumbling-block to the Jew ; bat he is not ashamed of it, because he is not ashamed: 1. Of its Author. 2. Of its tru,ths and ordinances. 3. Of his oumfaith in it. 4. Of hi-s sufferings for it. 111. TBB 11.EAflON WB:Y BE IS NOT ABBUIED OP THE GOSPEL. "For I know whom I have trueted, and am persuaded that he is able to keep my deposit till that day." 1. He kwotos hiB Red,eemer thrO'U!}h faith and love and e:r:perience. It is " eternal life " to know him (John xvii. 3). It is not that he merely knows of him, but he knows him- what he is, what he can do, what be has promised to do--and therefore he can trust him. 2. Hu t""8t ill in a knoW'TI, Person. (1) The apostle would have been very foolish to trust an unknown person. We distrust strangers. We will only entrust that which i~ dear to us--our children or our money-to those known to us. (2) There are foolish people who think it a wiser, as well as a more meritorious thing, to believe without knowledge; like the Spanish Jesuit who said, "I believe in this doctrine, not in spite of its impossibility, but because it is impossible." The apostle held a very different view. (3) There are some people of whom we may say that the more they are known the less are they trusted. A fuller experience discovers flaws in their character forbidding confidence. But onr Saviour is One who is trusted the more he is known, in all the various circumstances of human life. 3. The apostle has placed his soul, a, a precious d.ez,ottit, in the hands of Ghrist, with the assurance of its perfect safety. " I am per- suaded that he is able to keep my deposit till that day." Several circumstances enhance the significance of this act of the apostle. (1) The value of the deposit. What can he more precious than the soul? (Mark vili. 37). (2) The danger of its loss. The soul is a lost thing, and but for grace eternally so. (3) The ainner feels the deposit is not safe with himself. Man cannot, any more than man's brother, save his own soul. (4) Who will take charge of this deposit? Many shrink from responsibility in caaea of a difficult and delicate nature. But Jesus Christ has undertaken for us ; he will take us completely in charge ; he will keep our deposit till the day of judgment. (5) Mark the limit of time as to the safety of the deposit-" till that day." No day short of that-not even the day of death; for the completed glory is reserved for the day of juGgment. That will be the day for the bestowal of the crown of lile. 4. Mark the aasurlfflQS of Ike apostle a, to the safet11 of his deposit. " I am persuaded that he is able to keep my deposit." This shows (1) that assurance is a possible attainment (1 John v. 13) i (2) that it is a cheering and sustaining experience.-T. C. Ver. 13.-Importana of the/orm of sound words. " Hold the pattern of sound words." I. TBJS INJUNCTION Ill.PLIES THAT THE DOCTBINES OF THE GOSPEL HAD DEEN ALREADY MOULDED INTO A CERTAIN SHAPE OB SYSTEM WHICH WAB EASILY GBABPED BY THE POPULAB MIND. As necessity arose, there was a restatement, in a new form, of the faith once professed so as to neutralize false theories. Thus the Apostle John recast the doctrine of Christ's manifestation in the world in his Epistles. There are other examples of such restatement. As errorists often seduce by an adroit use of words, it becomes necessary to have "a pattern of sound words," not merely as a witness for the truth, but as a protest against error. Timothy was in this case to adhere to t'.he form of what he had heard from the apostle, and received with auch "faith and love which is in Ohriat Jesna." IJH. 1.1-18.) 'l'HE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 11
II. 'fHE UBE OF euoa A FORH. 1. le wa, a untre of doctrinal unity to the (Jhwrr,h. 2. It exhibieed ehe eruth in a wnsiseene light to the world. :3. It afforded a rallying-point in the conflkt with system, of IIN"<Yr. 4:. It tended to spiridua/, ,taln'lity.-T. C.