The Apostle gives rules for the treatment of the slaves who rendered service in the households of that time. If the slave was in the household of a heathen master, he must honor and glorify Christ by being respectful and obedient; shut if the master was a Christian, and therefore a brother in the Lord, he was still required to yield courteous and willing service. Service rendered for the love of God must not be inferior to that rendered from fear of man.

There were many false teachers in the early Church, the chief aim of whom was to make money. They were proud and distempered, jealous and suspicious, juggling with words and given to splitting hairs. Godliness truly is great gain. It makes us content with what we have, and it opens to us stores of blessedness which the wealth of a Cresus could not buy. It is good to have just what is necessary. More than that breeds anxiety. Let us leave the provision for our needs with God. He is pledged to give food and covering, the latter including shelter. Not money, but the love of it opens the sluices and floodgates of the soul, through which wash the destroying waters of passion that drown men in destruction and perdition. Remember that you can carry nothing out of this world except your character.

1 Timothy 6:11-21. The poor need not envy the rich. Wealth makes no difference in the audit of eternity. A man cannot eat more than a certain amount of food, and wear more than a certain amount of clothing. If we have enough why envy others? The true wealth of life is in self-renunciation and beneficence. How different from the money-grabber is the man of God who flees such things, and follows after righteous-

ness, who fights the good fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and who never flinches from witnessing the good witness. If we suffer here with Jesus, we shall share in the glory of his manifestation. Notice the wealth of the Apostle’s ascription to Jesus! Here are life in its spring, light at its source, power and authority in their original fountain. Let us claim these blessings and enthrone them in our lives.

The charge to the rich is eminently sound. We must set our hope not on the attainment of fleeting things, but in God who loves to give and see his children happy. We hold all that we have, that we may be God’s channels of communication to others. What we hoard we lose, what we give away we store. The life which is life indeed can be only through death and self-giving.

What matters of church order does the Epistle treat? What does it set forth as guides for the conduct of a Christian minister?

When was this Epistle written? What was it designed to teach?

(Bach question applies to the paragraph of corresponding

Why had Paul exhorted Timothy to tarry at Ephesus? What is the “end of the charge”? What words are peculiar to the Pastoral Epistles?

What saying is “worthy of all acceptation”?

After what manner should public worship be conducted ?

How is the fitness of deacons and deaconesses to be determined ?

What does the Spirit testify regarding later times?

Why was Timothy’s authority likely to be discounted? How was he to guard against this?

What is said of those who provide not for their own households?

What instructions are given regarding widows in the early Church?

When are elders to be accounted worthy of double honor?

What is named as a root of all kinds of evil?

Why need the poor not envy the rich? What earnest plea concludes the Epistle?

This is the last Epistle of the great Apostle, who was apparently awaiting sentence. He had already had audience with Caesar, and escaped, 2 Tim. 4:16, 17; but there could be no doubt as to the ultimate issue. When Paul indited these words he was imprisoned in the Mamertine dungeon, exposed to the chill ague of its damp walls, reeking with pestilence and recalling the miseries of generations of condemned criminals, There was one desire for the fulfillment of which he yearned. He longed to see once more the dear friend of earlier years, whom he had led into this life of stern suffering, and whose spirit seems to have been somewhat overwhelmed by its severity. It was this that led Paul to dispatch this second letter, filled with advice and exhortation in case Timothy could not come, but specially full of desire that he should come before winter set in and traveling became difficult, 2 Tim. 4:9, 21. There is no trace of despondency in this noble swan song. Though Paul had lost all things, he had gained Christ. “Glorious Apostle! Would that every leader’s voice could burst, as he falls, into such a trumpet-sound, thrilling the young hearts that pant in the good fight and must never despair of final victory!”

2 Timothy 1:1-11. Lonely and facing death the Apostle fell back on the bedrock of the will of God. If it were the divine plan that he should finish his lifework in that miserable plight, he was content that it should be so. But he longs to see his beloved son in the faith once more. He desires to stir up the dead coal of his ardor, in which there was fire and heat, but not enough flame.

Apparently the young evangelist was becoming daunted by the gathering difficulties of the time and so Paul sets himself to encourage him. With this purpose in view he adduces his own example, v. 3, his fervent affection, v. 4, the memory of the sainted dead, vy. 5, the solemn vows by which Timothy had bound himself at his ordination, v. 6, the divine donation of grace and power and love, vy. 8, the eternal purpose which had received its fruition in the advent of Jesus, v. 9, the clear light which his resurrection had thrown on death and the hereafter, v. 10. Surely such a chain of arguments must have proved irresistible! God’s soldiers must be brave and unflinching in meeting the opposition of the world. When once we realize that the stores which reside in God are at the disposal of our faith, we, too, shall be invulnerable and irresistible.

2 Timothy 1:12-18. How striking Paul’s reference to the double committal, as if there had been an agreed exchange between his Master and himself! Paul had handed over to Christ as a sacred deposit all that concerned his well-being in time and eternity, and Christ had handed over to him the interests of his Kingdom, which, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he was re-

quired to maintain inviolate. It is a mutual exchange of which we all ought to know something, Give all to Christ and Christ becomes all to you. The proportion of your self-giving is the measure of your discovery of what Jesus will be to you.

Some of Paul’s former friends shrank from identifying themselves with a suspect—the inmate of the condemned cell. It was no light matter to visit the bearer of a name which the world of that day detested, one who belonged to a sect accused of burning Rome. Demos, 2 Tim. 4:11, and others forsook him, but the good Ephesian, Onesiphorus, set about seeking him through all the prisons of Rome, and was not ashamed of his chain nor content with a single visit. He oft refreshed his friend. Paul sends a grateful message to his family, 4:19. Perhaps there is here a gentle hint to Timothy. Compare vs. 8 and 16. Never shrink from taking your place beside Christ’s prisoners!

& Timothy 2:1-9. Soldier, vs. 1-4: There is grace enough in Jesus for every need, but we must avail ourselves of it. We can expect nothing less than hardship, since life is a battlefield. Our one aim should be to please him who chose us to be soldiers. In order to be all that he would have us be, we must avoid entangling ourselves in the conditions around us. We must resemble a garrison in the town where it is quartered, and from which it may at any hour be summoned away. The less encumbered we are, the more easily shall we be able to execute the least command of our Great Captain. How high an honor it is to be enrolled among his soldiers!

Athlete, v. 5: Life is an amphitheater, filled with celestial spectators. Probably our worst antagonist is found in our own heart. If we win the crown, we must observe regulations as to diet, exercise, purity, 1 Cor. 9:24-27. Husbandman, v. 6: We ought to be working for God in his vineyard or harvest-field; but we are

From Painting by JAMES SANT. Modern British Artist.

allowed to partake of the fruits. It is imperative that we should be nourished while we labor. In all these positions we must remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead. We must draw upon the power of his resurrection, and to do this, we must live on the heavenside of the Cross. ‘‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live,’’ Gal. 2:20,

2 Timothy 2:10-18. The elect, vs. 10-13: The Apostle sketches the experiences of the elect soul. It must endure, suffer, and die with Christ, that out of its surrender may come the truest, richest life, John 12: 25, There is no path to lasting success save that of the cross and grave of Christ. It has been allotted to the redeemed in the divine program; each must tread. it separately and with resolute purpose. But there is no doubt as to the sequel of a true life. The world of men may count it a failure, but God pledges himself that as the pendulum swings here in the dark, it shall swing equally in yonder world of light. Three things are impossible with God—to die, to lie, and to fail the soul that trusts him. Even when we cannot muster faith enough, his word of promise cannot be frustrated in the case of those whose faith is weak and trembling as the smoking flax.

The workman, vs. 14-18: The one anxiety with us all should be to stand approved before God. As the R:V. margin suggests, we must hold a straight course in the word of truth. Our testimony should resemble an undeviating furrow. Let us construct in our life something which will be a permanent addition to the well-being of the world, so that at the last the Master may say that he is satisfied.

2 Timothy 2:19-26. Two men had been named whose teachings had overthrown the faith of some; but in contradistinction to this lamentable defection, Paul

turns with thankfulness to the firm foundations of faith on which the Church is built. They stand firm, because they rest on incontestable facts, and are authenticated by the Christian experience of centuries. Medallion inscriptions were often placed on foundation stones. Here are two affixed to those of the Churehone between God and the believer, the other between the believer and the world. What a privilege to be known by God! What a responsibility to work worthily of him before men!

From the house the Apostle proceeds to the vessels within. Each of us stands on one of those four shelves. But those to be honored and which are most often in the Master’s hands are not necessarily the gold vessels, but the clean ones, of whatever material. Cleanliness counts more with God than cleverness. Do not be anxious about your service; be ready for the Master to use you. Lie like a silver cup in the trough of the fountain, v. 25. Repentance is God’s gift, but there is a peradventure in it. Men are drunk with the world’s drugs; they need to be recovered. Notice that we may rescue for God men whom the devil has entrapped,

2 Timothy 3:1-9. The last days of the present age are to be black and sorrowful. Sinful rejection of Christ will come to a head. We must not be misled by the wide-spread profession of the forms of religion ; this may co-exist with the rankest apostasy. When women are conscious of sins against God, society, and : themselves, they are very liable to the seduction of false teachers, who promise peace and condone impurity.

Tares and wheat grow together unto the harvest. The devil has always set himself to counterfeit God’s handiwork: the Holy City by Babylon; the Son of man by the man of sin; blessedness by the worldling’s giddy merriment. Thus the Egyptian conjurers repeated the miracles of Moses by resorting to sleight of hand.

So there is a pure gospel and a specious mimicry of it. Wait for the inevitable unfoldings of God’s purpose. Time will show what is true and what is false. In the meantime, examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. ‘

2 Timothy 3:10-17. The world does not love Christ or Christians any better than of old; and all who are minded to live godly lives will come inevitably to the cross in one form or another. To be without persecution should put us in serious doubt as to whether we are right. The spirit of the gospel is in absolute disagreement with the spirit of the world. But, whatever the losses and trials, let the children of God abide in the things which they have learned, and walk in blameless purity and consistency. The conduct, purpose, and patience of this great and holy Apostle gleam in front of us for our inspiration and guidance; and his experience will be ours—that there is no sorrow out of which we shall not be delivered, when we have learned the lesson it was sent to teach.

In the stern experiences of human life there is no stay that is comparable to the Holy Scriptures. The infinite variety of Scripture adapts itself to different states of the soul. Whatever our need, we can find its solace and remedy here. Thus we may live a complete life, finding in the Bible an equipment for all our emergencies. In this armory is every weapon for offense and defense; in this pharmacopeia is a medicine and antidote for every wound.

2 Timothy 4:1-12. To the end Paul held to the appearing of Jesus, though he might not live to see it; and it was to precede and usher in the coming of the Kingdom. The world of that time was sad and sick, and Paul’s sole panacea was the preaching of the gospel. Verse 2, do not only take opportunities, but

make them. Verse 3, make haste; such opportunities are closing in. Sound throughout these Pastoral Epistles means ‘‘healthy’’ and ‘‘health-giving.’’ Note that striking phrase of the itching ears, which turn in every direction where they may obtain momentary relief. Verse 5, be on the alert! Fulfil, that is, work to the edge of your pattern.

With what pathetic words Paul refers to his approaching death! He regarded his life-blood as about to be poured out as a libation, v. 6, R.V., margin. The time had come for him to go on board the good ship which was waiting in the offing to sail at sunset for its port of glory. He was a veteran who had fought valiantly and successfully—keeping the faith as in the old Roman story the heroes kept the bridge. But he was soon to be relieved. The crown at the end of the course was already in sight. He was lonely—only Luke is with me. He needed to be ministered unto—take Mark. But his courage was unabated. Demos might forsake, but Christ failed not.

2 Timothy 4:13-22. The winter was approaching, and the Apostle would be glad of his cloak amid the damp of the Mamertine prison. Evidently his arrest under Nere’s orders had been so sudden and peremptory that he was not allowed to go into his lodgings for this and other possessions, such as the books mentioned in y. 13.

He had made his first appearance before Nere, and was expecting a further appearance to receive his sentence. But the Lord was with him, and his comfort was that he had proclaimed the gospel to the highest audience in the world of his time. His one thought always was that the gospel should be heard by men, whether they would hear or forbear. If that were secured, he did not count the cost to himself. The lion may stand for Nere or Satan. See Luke 22:31; 1 Pet.

5:8. From v. 20 we gather that miraculous gifts of healing, of which Paul was possessed, may not be used merely for friendship’s sake, but only where the progress of the gospel requires them.

What is the Apostle’s charge to Timothy? What is his testimony regarding his own career? What does he say about their Master and ours?

What place does this Epistle occupy among the Pauline writings?

Where was it written? Under what conditions?

What was the Apostle’s one desire at this time?

What characteristics distinguish the Epistle?

(Each question applies to the paragraph of corresponding

Why was Paul so desirous of seeing Timothy once more?

Why had Paul been forsaken by many of his former friends? Whom does he mention in particular as standing loyally by him?

In what ways is a Christian like a soldier? an athlete?

How may one attain the position of “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed”?

What is the seal of “the firm foundation of God”?

What is still the lot of those who “would live godly in Christ Jesus”?

In what terms does Paul sum up his career as an Apostle?

What are some of the personal allusions with which the Epistle closes?

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We know very little of Titus. Though never mentioned in the Acts, he seems to have been one of the most trusted and best beloved members of the noble little band of Paul’s friends and disciples. As he was a Greek by birth, Paul took him to Jerusalem on that memorable visit referred to in Gal. 2:3. The bond between them was very close, Titus 1:4. Titus was sent three times to Corinth on special embassies, during the troubles of that distracted church, 2 Cor. 7 and 8. The last mention of him is in connection with the visit to Dalmatia, during Paul’s second imprisonment, 2 Tim. 4:10.

This Epistle guides Titus in the right ordering of the churches in Crete, which may have owed their foundation to the Cretan Jews, who are mentioned as having heard Peter’s pentecostal sermon. Paul had evidently visited the island himself, but had been obliged to leave the consolidation of the work with his friend, Titus 1:5. The Epistle was warmly admired by Luther, who says: “This is a short Epistle, but it contains such a quintessence of Christian doctrine, and is composed in such a masterly manner, that it contains all that is needful for Christian knowledge and life.”