Vers. 10--12.-The career of the apostk commended as an example to his youthful disciple. The apostle recalls to Timothy's mind the facts of bis own ch,·ckere<l ca.ri·n. partly to mark the contrast between his life and that of the false teachers, partly to stimulate Timothy to like faithfulness and pn,lurance. I, IT IS GOOD FOB YOUNG MINISTERS TO OBSERVE AND FOLLOW THE WAYS OF THEIR ELDER BBETHBEN. "But thou didst follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith." 1. They will thus be stimulated to yreater effort. 2. They will be guide I by wiser counsels. 3. They will be guarded against many mistakes, 4. Thty will b, better able to endure i,ersecutions and trials. II. IT IS ALLOWABLE FOR A CHRISTIAN MINISTER TO SPEAK OF WHAT Goo's GRACE BAB ENABLED HIM 'l'O DO AND 'l'O SUFFER FOR THE GOSPEL. 1. It glorifies Gud's grace. The apostle always 111ade this grace the supreme factor in hi~ success. ·• By the grace of God I am what I am;" "Yet not I, bnt the grace of God which wa, iu men (l Cor. xv. 10). 2. It is an encourayement to other ministers to labour with equal self-denial. III. THE ME1'HOD OF 'l'HE APOSTLE'S IIIU-:ISTRY AND LIFE. "My teaching," in allusion less to hie doctrine than to his manner of giving instruction; "conduct," or manner ot life, in allullion to" my ways which be in Christ" (1 Cor. iv. 17); "purpose,n for he remained true to the spiritu11l objects of bis :ifo, und, above all, tu his mission tu the 48 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. [oa. m. 1-17.
C'r11ntilet1; "faith," in allusion to his belief in the fundamental doctrines of the gospel, linked with "long-suffering" toward his hitter adversaries, whom he longed to lead into truth-" the faith and the patience" being necessary to the inheritance of the promise■ (Heh. vi. 12); "love," which &eemed ne,·er to fail," believing all things, hearing all thinge, hoping all thing,;;" linked with "endurance,'' as before (1 Tim. vi. 11 ; Titus ii. 2), because it is the sustaininµ: element of this endurance; "persecutions, afflictions which came to me at Antioch,'' in Pisidia, whence he was expelled by the Jews; "at Ic~nium," where both Jews and Gentiles made an assault upon him; "at Lystra," where he wu stoned and left for dead-the three cities being named because of 'l'imothy's intimate acquaintru1<·e with them, the apostle's sufferings there being the earliest in his miBSionary life. He gratefully records bis deliverance out of all his persecutions by the good hand of the Lord. IV. Tim A'l'I'ITUDE OF THE WORLD TOWARD GODLINEBB. "Yea, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 1. The peraom thua described. (1) Those who &im at a godly life-who "wish to live godly." Thie is the highest aim of man in a world with many lofty ideals. (2) They are not merely godly, but live ill all the outward amenities of gosp,·1-godliness. "As ye have received Christ Jeeue the Lord, so walk ye in him." (3) This life of godliness finds its source and epring in Jesus Christ. It is "in Christ Jesus." 2. Their wt in this life. "Shall suffer persecution." (1) This was Christ's prediction. " If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you" (John xv. 20). (2) The world is essentially at war with the kingdom of God. "Because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John xv, 19). (3) Better t.o sufi'er as Christians than as evil-doers.-T. 0.
Ver. 13.-The downward course of seducerB. The apostle connects the persecution with the ways of evil men, while he warns Timothy against them. I. TBEIB DEGENERATE COUBSE. "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse." 1. The persom here described. (1) Evil men. (a) The.v are those ill contrast with the men who "would live godly ill Christ Jesus." (!J) They are not simply sinners as all men are by nature a1Jd practice, but rather wicked men who wear a mask of godliness, yet are full of malice against the saints of God. (2) Seducer11, literally magicians, in allusion to those of El!ypt; men who are full of sorceries to captivate and betray the unwary into error. 2. They shal.l go from bad to worse-both in principle and in practice, in the use of their seductive arts and in the gradual depravation of their character. There is nothing to arrest their down ward course; there is no grace i11 the heart; the priucivles of evil will work with unchecked energy in their natures. II. THE EXPLANATION OF THIS DEGENERACY. "Deceiving and being deceived." l. Tl,e method of mental and morul debasement. Let men repeat falsities with sufficient frequency and deliberateness, and they will cowe by-and-by to believe them themselves. They begin by deceiving others. They cannot deceive God nor the elect, but by their good words and fair S!Jteches, their lying wonders and their specious arts, they may seduce the simple into error. 2. ~ retribution that follows upon deception '8 1elf- deception. Such dPceivers have become sincere in their error, because they have bliuded their spiritual eyesight; but now they see truth 88 error, and error as truth, -T.C. Vers. 14, 15.-.An admonition to Timothy to ahitk in the way, of wuth. Amidst all the seduction:< of the false teachers, the apostle urge~ Timothy to bold fast the doctrines which he had received in his early training. I. THE DOTY AND NECESSITY OF BOl,DING FAST BY TBE DIVINE VEBITIER. "Ilut do thou continue in the things which tl,ou hast learned and hast been assured of." 1. The atrength and oomfort of an wn,dou,bting prrs=ion. 'l'imothy was not to be ILoved away frow the doct,~nes of the gospel either by peroecutions or s(•ductive nrts. He found hi~ strength and peace in them. 2. He had really learned them, unlike those ever karning and never able t-0 come to the knowledge of the truth ; for he had an experimental knowledge of them. He was, besides, fully assured of them, with " the full assurance of understanding." It is a very unbecoming attitude for a teo.chor of others to be :iCCptical in his opinionH. He ought to affirm with certainty, and if he is fwlJ uaured, he has 110 ri~hL tu Murrender the truth. CJII, DL 1-17.] THE SECOND EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY.