Ver. 5.-The relaticm of the apostasy to~ <Jhristian professwn. I. TaE EXTERNAL FORM OF PIETY IS TO EXIST 'DNDEB THE APOSTASY. "Haviog a form of godliness." The picture is that of a Christianized paganism in the Church. There was to be a scrupulous re1te.rd for all ritualistic regularity; e.n outward show of devoutness under Rtrict forms, and the mask of godliness over e.11 to cover a. heart in secret enslaved by sin. II. THERE wn.L BE A REPUDIATION OP BEAL GODLINESS. "But denying the power thereof." 1. The power of godlimess consists in love to God and love to our neighbour. These were both repudiated. The cle..~s referred to were strangers to experimental reli- gion, which they dishonoured by saying one thing with their lips and e.no~her thing W:th th, ir lives. 2. Su,eh a repudiation involves graver sin and deeper condemnation than if they had nev,·r known the truth or heard of the way of life. III. THE DUTY OF BELIEVERS IN THE APOSTASY. "Frum such turn a.way." We ought to withdraw from their fellowship, avoid all familiarity with them, hold no terms with the enemies of Christ and his kingdoru.-T. C.
Vers. 6, 7.-The imidiOUBl,y prosdytizing habit, of these apoatafM. I. TaE ABTS OF THE SEDUCEBS. "For of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women." 1. They were of a most proselytizing apirit. Like the Pharisees, they woulcl compas11 sea. and land to make one proselyte. 2. They practised f/,'11,WOrthy art,. They wormed their way insidiously into the confidence of families. There was a deceitful and tricky method of gaining access to their victims. 3. They used their stratagems to snare women rather than men. They knew that women, as the weaker vessels, were more accessible to soft ble.ndishmeuts and specious pretences of piety. They counterl upon an accession of female converts as, above e.11 things, most contributing to the success of their propaganda. II. THE CBABACTER OF TREIB VICTI.MB. " Silly women la.den with sins, led away by clivere lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge or the truth." Th8118 victims of their ~pecious arts w,:,re morally and intellectually prepared for them. l. They were, morally, under the sway of evil passi011s and deaires, full, no doubt, of "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life." Such women would welcome a. short cut tu peace, or any reaoncilia.tion between religion and wor;dliness that could be devilled by Lhe arts of apostasy. The words seem to point to the weight of former sin& burdening the COD6Cience, from which they hoped to be released under e!U!ier conditions than those prescribed by the gospel. 2. They were incapable, through their •mfu/, life, of attaining a true /cnowledge of the truth. Thev were" Billy women," OH, Ill, 1-17.] 1.'HE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. 47
with light, frivolonR, 11nhala11c,,.1 judgmente; "ever learning "-wiLh a morbid love nf novelties in religion, &n insatiable cnriosity for the myeteriee promised by their false guides, and a. constant craving for a.n adapta.tion of doctrinal views to their evil desires -" a.11d never Bble to come to the knowledge of the truth." Because their hearts had become indura.ted through no evil life, Bnd BO made inaccessible to tl,e truth.-T. C.
Vere. 8, 9.-The character and aim, of the /al~ teacher■. The apostle vi'ridly depicts thPir attitude toward the truth. I. THEY HAVE TREIB HISTOBI0AL PROTOTYPES. "AR Jannes and Ja.mbres withstood M..ses, su do these &)BO withstand the truth." 1. These were two Egyptian magicians, called "wise men and sorcerers" (Exod. vii. 11-22), who appeared at the court of Pharaoh to resist the wonder-working power of Moses. Their names do not occur in the Old Testament, but they a.re found in the Targum of Jonathan, and a.re also quoted by heathen writers. What was more natural than that the apostle should quote to Timo1hy one of the two traditions of his country? 2. These magicians, reported to have been sons of Balaam, were thwarted in tl,eir arts by the s11perior power that worked thrlJU,flh Moses, The parallel was therefore in a double sense apt. II. THE FALSE TEACHEBB DIBEOTLY WITHSTOOD THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL, 1. They may have used occult arts like their Egyptian prototypes to attract disciples; for the word "seducers," a.pplied to them in the context (ver. 13), bas this signification. The claim to possess such powers was not unusual in that day (Acts viii. 9--24; xiii. 6-12; xix. 18-20). 2, But, like Elymas, they withstood the truth of the gospel, b-y representing themselves as possessing as much authority as the apostle himsd,f, and thus neutralizing its exclusive claims. They subverted the hope~ of the gospel. III. THE EXPLANATION o~· THEm ANTI-CIIBISTIAN ATTITUDE. "Men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith,". 1. Corrupt affections depraved their m.tmtal judgment,. Even that mind, which is the 11,ediuru through which the Holy Spirit makes his communications to man, bad become darkened. "A corrupt bead, a. corrupt heart, and a vicious life, usually accompany each other." 2. The doctrines of these teachers had been te3ted and discovered to be worthless, like silver which was to be rejected by man, They had nothing but the name in co111ruon with the Christian faith. IV. THE CHECK THAT WOULD BE GIVEN TO THEIB PBOGBESB. "But they shall pro- ceed no further; for their folly shell be evident to all men, ae theirs also came to be." This passage seems opposed to eh. ii. 16, where it is said that "they sha.11 advance to more ungodliness;" but in that place (1) the apostle is speaking of an immlldi.ate diffu- sion of error, in thi11 of its ultimate extinction; (2) in that place the advance toward uugodliuess ie asserted, here there is a denial of its successful advance without expo- sure. The evil would advance, but only to a certain point, e.nd tbe true character of its promoters-" their folly "-would be ma.de as manifest as was that of the Egyptian magicians.-T. C.