Ven. 18-20.-The solemn charge to Timothy. The apostle here returns to the duty of Jirccting Timothy. I. IT IS NECESSARY FOR EVEN GOOD MINISTERS TO BE BEllINDED OF THEIR DUTIES A.ND RESPONSIBILITIES. "This charge I commit to thee, my son Timothy." 1. The charge may have indirectly aUuded to the commands already given, but refer.• imme- diately to the good warfare in which he is to war as the fulfilment of his calli:ng. 2. It is committed to him like a precious deposit to be guarded and kept. How anxious the apostle is that Timothy should be faithful to his position and his responsibilitiea ! II. IT IS A SOLEMN THING TO INVOKE THE MEMORY OF PROPHECIES OR PIOUS ANTI- CIPATIONS IN AID OF A DIFFICULT CAI\EER. .. According to the prophecies that wen, before on thee, that by them thou mightest war a good warfare." 1. The allusion is to prophecies uttered probably at his ordination by the prophets ,f the Church,foretelling his future zeal and. success. Such prophetic intimations were not uncommon in the primitive Church. We trace them at Jerusalem (Acts xi. 27, 28), at Antioch (Acts xiii. 1), at Corinth (1 Cor. xiv.), at Cresarea (Acts xxi. 8-10). 2. Such prophecies would act with a stimulating, self-protective power upon a temperament like that oj Timothy, inclined, perhaps, to softness and timidity. They would encourage him in the midst of his present perils and trials at Ephesus. 3. It is a mow thing t,, disappoint the hopes of the pious. Ill. THE PURPOSE CONTEMPLATED BY THE COIDIAND AS WELL AS ITS llOIEDIAn: SUBJECT. "That by them "-that is, in virtue of them-" thou mightest war a good war· fare." The figure is a familiar one with the apostle (Eph. vi. 12 ; 2 Cor. x. 3, 4 ; 2 Tim. ii. 3). 1. Christia1, life, and above all that of a minister, is a good wa,fare. (1) It is good because it is against evil-the world, the flesh, and the devil ; (2) beoa111e ii b directed toward the good of men ; (3) because it is for a good end, the glory .,f God. 2. It ia to be carried on (1) under Christ as Captain (Heh. ii. 10); (2) with watch- fulness and sobriety (1 Cor. xvi. 13; 1 Thess. v. 6); (3) with an enduring hard.Dees (2 Tim. ii. 3, 10); ( 4) with self-denial (1 Cor. ix. 25-27); (6) with prayer (Eph. 'ri. 18) IV. THE WEAPONS IN 1'Hl8 WARFARE Am; FAITH AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE. "Huld ing faith and agoodconBCience." The two must jtO to11:ether, but faith must nece~~sril, 16 THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. [on. L 1-20.
go fil"l!t. You cannot he.ve e. good conscience without faith, nor fe.ith In its reality with- out a. good conscience. There must be faith in your teaching, conscience in your e.ction1. 1. Faith. There is "the shield of faith." It is not tho mere doctrine of fe.ith, but the grace of faith. It is by this faith we overcome (1) tho world (1 John v. 4, 6); (2) the flesh (Gal. v. 24); (3) the devil (l John ii. 14); ( 4) everything that exe.lta itself (2 Cor. x. 5); (5) death and the grave (1 Cor. xv. 64, 55). A mere intellectual belief could not produce sucb results; for "the devils believe and tremble." 2. .A good conscienai. (1) It is good because it is sprinkled with the blood of Christ (Heb. ix. 14). (2) Be- cau1<e it helps to keep the faith in purity (1 Tim. iii. 9). (3) Christians ouO'ht to seek the approval of their consciences in all things (Acts xxiv. 16). (4) Its testi~ony ouaht to be a source of joy (2 Cor. i. 12; 1 John iii. 21). (5) Ministers ought always to ~m- mend themselves to the consciences of their people (2 Cor. iv. 2). V. TilE WOEFUL SHIPWRECK OF OONSCIENCE. "Which some having put away con- cerning faith have made shipwreck." The figure is a nautical one. When the carn:o or ballast of a good conscience is tossed overboard, the ship becomes unmanageable, ~d is easily shipwrecked. "Some" at Ephesus resolutely stifled the admonitions of con- science, and thus turned faith into a mere matter of speculation, with no influence whatever upon their practice. l. These ~s<ms made shi'p,,,reck of tlte doctrine of faith; for they held that the resurrection is past already (2 'l'im. ii. 18). 2. If they made ship,meck of the grace of faith, it may not have been a total shipwreck; for the discipline imposed upon them by the apostle was for the saving of the spirit, "not for the de,truc- tion of the flesh" (~ Cor. v. 5). 3. The apostk's method of dealing with these off,-nders. " Of whom are Hymenreus and Alexander ; whom I delivered unto Satan, that they may be taught not to blaspheme." (1) Hymenreus was almost certainly the so.me as the impugner of a future resurrection (2 Tim. ii. 17); and Alexander was probably, but not so certainly, the same as Alexander the coppersmith (2 Tim. iv. 14), who was a reso- lute personal enemy of the apostle. (2) The apostle delivered them unto Satan, which seems to have included (a) a solemn excommunication from the Church, carried out no doubt by the Church at the apostle's command; and (b) the infliction of bodily disease. Cases of the exercise of this terrible apostolic power are those of Ananias and Sapphire., Elymas, and the incestuous person at Corinth. (3) It was not an irrevocable sentene&, for its remission depended upon the return of the offenders to faith and repentance. "That they may be taught through chastisement not to blaspheme." The design was the recovery of the offenders ; but neither this Epistle nor the next throws any light upon the ultimate effect of the severe discipline infilcted by the apoetle.-T. 0.