After the introduction (
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.
Here is, I. The inscription of the epistle
Paul calls himself an apostle by the will of God, merely by
the good pleasure of God, and by his grace, which he professes
himself unworthy of. According to the promise of life which is
in Christ Jesus, or according to the gospel. The gospel is the
promise of life in Christ Jesus; life is the end, and Christ the
way,
II. Paul's thanksgiving to God for
Timothy's faith and holiness: he thanks God that he remembered
Timothy in his prayers. Observe, Whatever good we do, and whatever
good office we perform for our friends, God must have the glory of
it, and we must give him thanks. It is he who puts it into our
hearts to remember such and such in our prayers. Paul was much in
prayer, he prayed night and day; in all his prayers he was mindful
of his friends, he particularly prayed for good ministers, he
prayed for Timothy, and had remembrance of him in his prayers
night and day; he did this without ceasing; prayer was his
constant business, and he never forgot his friends in his prayers,
as we often do. Paul served God from his forefathers with a pure
conscience. It was a comfort to him that he was born in God's
house, and was of the seed of those that served God; as likewise
that he had served him with a pure conscience, according to the
best of his light; he had kept a conscience void of offence, and
made it his daily exercise to do so,
6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 9 Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: 11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. 12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. 13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
Here is an exhortation and excitation of
Timothy to his duty (
I. He exhorts him to stir up the gift of
God that was in him. Stir it up as fire under the
embers. It is meant of all the gifts and graces the God had given
him, to qualify him for the work of an evangelist, the gifts of the
Holy Ghost, the extraordinary gifts that were conferred by the
imposition of the apostle's hands. These he must stir up; he must
exercise them and so increase them: use gifts and have gifts. To
him that hath shall be given,
II. He exhorts him to count upon afflictions, and get ready for them: "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. Be not thou ashamed of the gospel, of the testimony thou hast borne to it." Observe,
1. The gospel of Christ is what we have
none of us reason to be ashamed of. We must not be ashamed of those
who are suffering for the gospel of Christ. Timothy must not be
ashamed of good old Paul, though he was now in bonds. As he must
not himself be afraid of suffering, so he must not be afraid of
owning those who were sufferers for the cause of Christ. (1.) The
gospel is the testimony of our Lord; in and by this he bears
testimony of himself to us, and by professing our adherence to it
we bear testimony of him and for him. (2.) Paul was the Lord's
prisoner, his prisoner,
2. Mentioning God and the gospel, he takes
notice what great things God has done for us by the gospel,
(1.) The nature of that gospel which he was
called to suffer for, and the glorious and gracious designs and
purposes of it. It is usual with Paul, when he mentions Christ, and
the gospel of Christ, to digress from his subject, and enlarge upon
them; so full was he of that which is all our salvation, and ought
to be all our desire. Observe, [1.] The gospel aims at our
salvation: He has saved us, and we must not think much to
suffer for that which we hope to be saved by. He has begun to save
us, and will complete it in due time; for God calls those things
that are not (that are not yet completed) as though they were
(
(2.) Consider the example of blessed Paul,
III. He exhorts him to hold fast the
form of sound words,
15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: 17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. 18 The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
Having (
I. He mentions the apostasy of many from
the doctrine of Christ,
II. He mentions the constancy of one that
adhered to him, namely, Onesiphorus: For he often refreshed me,
and was not ashamed of my chain,
III. He prays for Onesiphorus himself, as
well as for his house: That he may find mercy in that day,
in the day of death and of judgment, when Christ will account all
the good offices done to his poor members as done to himself.
Observe, 1. The day of death and judgment is an awful day, and may
be emphatically called that day. 2. We need desire no more
to make us happy than to find mercy of the Lord in that day, when
those that have shown no mercy will have judgment without mercy. 3.
The best Christians will want mercy in that day; looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,