Bible Commentaries

2 Timothy 4:2

Observe, he puts longsuffering before doctrine, and that because nothing except patience answers with those who are hard to win. Patience enables us to possess not only our own souls but those of others also.

—St. Francis de Sales.

2 Timothy 4:2

In the ninth chapter of The Saints" Everlasting Rest, Baxter observes that "we are commanded to "exhort one another daily," and "with all longsuffering" ( 2 Timothy 4:2). The fire is not always brought out of the flint at one stroke; nor men's affections kindled at the first exhortation; and if they were, yet if they be not followed, they will soon grow cold again.... If you reprove a sin, cease not till the sinner promise you to leave it, and avoid the occasions of it. If you are exhorting to a duty, urge for a promise to set upon it presently."

Reference.—IV:3.—H. D. M. Spence, Voices and Silences, p33.

St. Luke the Evangelist

2 Timothy 4:5

Here are four distinct thoughts. They are thoughts of St. Paul the friend of St. 2 Timothy 4:6

Paul knew that his work was done. How does this 2 Timothy 4:7

I may not boast with the Apostle that I have fought a good fight, but I can say that I have fought a hard one. For be my success small or great, it has been won without wilful wrong of a single human being and without inner compromise or other form of self-abasement.

—James Lane Allen, in The Choir Invisible.

References.—IV:7.—G. Dawes Hicks, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. p40. J. G. Greenhough, ibid. vol. xlix. p202; ibid. The Gross in Modern Life, p219. R. J. Wardell, Preacher's Magazine, vol. xviii. p178. Expositor (5th Series), vol. i. p144; ibid. (7th Series), vol. vi. p370.

The Christian Life: A Fight, a Race, a Trust

2 Timothy 4:7-8

I. First of all, Paul says, Christian life and Christian service are a conflict, a battle. "I have fought." Any conception of the Christian life that leaves out this side of it is a soft, inadequate and misleading conception. There is no Christian life apart from conflict. Paul says that it is not only a fight but it is the good fight No sight is fairer than that of the man making war on the base within and the base without, fighting with self, sin, the devil, and the world, and in God's strength overcoming.

II. The second metaphor, "I have finished my course". When Paul says here, "I have finished my course," he does not mean the sands of life have run out, but I have run along the appointed track. He means. I have fulfilled the Divine destiny. Henry Drummond said, "God has a will concerning a man's character, and then He has a will concerning a man's career". Find out God's will for you and go straight on whatever comes.

III. Now the last metaphor, "I have kept the faith". The Christian life is a great entrustment, a great stewardship. Your Christian life begins in your trusting Jesus. But that is only half. The other half is that Christ is trusting you. Supposing we are true soldiers of Christ, what is the end? Not death. There is "a crown of righteousness".

—Charles Brown, The Preacher's Magazine, vol. xvii. p439.

References.—IV:7; 8.—J. H. Holford, Memorial Sermons, p192. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iii. p415. H. Woodcock, Sermon Outlines (1Series), p225. F. B. Woodward, Selected Sermons, p42. Bishop Bethell, Sermons, vol. ii. pp1 , 16. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (1Series), p190.

The Love of Christ's Appearing

2 Timothy 4:8

Do you notice where St. Paul places a "love" of the Second Advent? He was writing as "Paul, the aged," with his own "crown of righteousness" now full in view. But that does not at all prevent him keeping his eye upon the coming of Christ. And I conceive that however close death may be to a 2 Timothy 4:10

Among all the portraits of the New Testament there is none more arresting, more solemn in its suggestiveness, more eloquent in its appeal, than this of Demas. "Demas forsook me, having loved this present age." These words were written by the Apostle of the Gentiles in circumstances of trials and loneliness. Almost certainly they are among the last words that he wrote or dictated. He was in prison, expecting the end. The words almost immediately preceding those of my text reveal this fact: "I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is come".

Paul was alone, save for the companionship of 2 Timothy 4:11

We have affinity with Paul in the mood in which these words discover him. He is in the depths. We have been there. When he sings we cannot always accompany him, but he is sure of our fellowship when he sighs. We are unable to soar with him to the seventh heaven, but when he moans, "Only Luke is with me," he becomes our brother and companion in tribulation. We cannot range with him the mystic uplands, but we can take his hand in the dreary prison-house. When he philosophises he gets away from us, but he is close to us when his bitter tears overflow. Let us observe this royal soul under depression. It will cheer us in our forlorn seasons.

I. The Depression of a Noble Soul.—How faithfully is Paul's drear depression reflected in this plaintive memorandum, "Only Luke is with me!" And it was a justifiable depression. There is an accidie which is atheism. There are glooms which are the pestiferous exhalations of unbelief. Moreover, there is a frequent depression which is the result of thoughtless and selfish indulgence. The extravagant supper of the night leaves stupid depression next morning. We need not waste sympathy upon such retributive sadness.

But how different is the depression of this faithful Apostle! His dejection arises from painful circumstances.

Paul's depression arose from impaired health. The thorn in the flesh had always a cruel sting, but its edge was sharpened in the dismal prison. Strong pain became ferocious pain. Paul had ever borne this cross, but it pressed overwhelmingly upon him now.

Paul's depression sprang from his excessive labours. The bow of Ulysses was unstrung. Its horn was worm-eaten and its string was mildewed. And what a conquering bow it had been!

Then Paul's depression was the depression of age. He was an old man now. He felt old, and that constitutes real old age. He subscribed himself "Paul the aged". And evening hours bring evening shades. He was darkened by the fogs which often fall heavy on the banks of the Jordan. I would call for warm sympathy with all such. We may all require that sympathy ourselves in a little while. Speak your kindest words to such depressed souls. Seek to irradiate their darkness. Pray much that unto these loyal souls there may arise light in the darkness.

II. A Pathetic Spectacle of Loneliness.—Paul's loneliness was intensified by the fact that living friends had become unfriendly. He had not only to bear the grief of friends fallen on sleep, but the tragedy of the unfaithful friend.

III. Great Compensation in a Distressing Lot.—If Paul was depressed and lonely, his compensation was rich. "Only Luke is with me." It is a sign of his despondency that he projects that "only" upon the statement. Had he not been whelmed with all God's waves and billows, he would not have used that limiting word. The "only" is a little window through which we can see his forlornness. "Only Luke is with me." Matthew Henry inquires, "And was not this enough?" It is a natural inquiry. But depression and loneliness have to fight hard against querulousness.

"Only Luke is with me!" Nay, Paul! Luke's Lord and yours is with you! John Wesley makes Paul say, "But God is with me and it is enough".

"Only Luke is with me." And he had enriching fellowship with this choice servant of God amid disquieting surroundings. What medical relief the beloved physician would afford him! It was a great thing to have a doctor as his friend in such extremity. Intellectual stimulus he would also gather from 2 Timothy 4:11

St. Luke is known to us as "the beloved Physician". We think of him, too, as the writer of the Gospel which bears his name, and also of that wonderful book in which are recorded the triumphs of the early Church, the Acts of the Apostles. He is not very frequently mentioned in the Scriptures, but such references as there are present him to us in a beautiful light. "The Physician"—surely it is a happy thing for us to know that thus early in the Christian Church there was so close a connection between the ministry of medicine and the ministry of the Gospel. "The Evangelist"—how delightful to think of this cultured and refined man being the bearer of the Evangel, the good news which his writings have given to the world, that "unto us is born a Saviour, Which is Christ the Lord!" "The Faithful Friend"—no, he is not specifically called so in the New Testament, but our text states it in sufficiently eloquent terms. May we think of him in this threefold capacity.

I. The Faithful Friend.—St. Paul was writing his second letter to Timothy from his prison in Rome. He was ready to be offered, and the time of his departure was at hand. He had no fear, no misgiving about himself, for he had fought a good fight, and he knew that there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness. But he was saddened and depressed by the defection of friends, particularly by that of Demas, who, having put his hand to the plough, had turned back, because he "loved this present world". Other friends were absent from necessity, but St. Luke was by his side, and his presence would be congenial not only because they had much in common intellectually, but also for the reason that they were united in the bonds of holy love to their common Lord. "Only Luke is with me."

II. The Evangelist.—St. Luke has laid us all under a debt of gratitude for his beautiful record of our Lord's life. "His superior education is proved by the philological excellence of his writings (viz, the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, which are but two volumes of one work). His preface, in pure Greek, implies previous careful study of documentary and other evidence. He speaks of other attempts to write a "Life of Christ," which were unsatisfactory. Though it is the same Gospel, it is narrated with peculiar independence, containing additional matter, more accuracy in preserving the chronological order of events, and complying with the requirements of history. He tested tradition with documentary records (e.g, ; 2:2; 3:1); by comparing the oral testimony of living witnesses (1:2 , 8); and only when he had "perfect understanding of all things from the very first "ventured to compile a "Life of Christ" as a perfect 2 Timothy 4:11

There is a note of pathos in this word "only" which is not to be interpreted as a belittling of Luke. It is rather a revelation of the Apostle Paul. These two have much to give to each other, and the ministry of each will be vitally enriched by the ministry of the other.

I. I remark, first, what a natural alliance this is. "Luke is with me," says the Apostle of the spiritual. A colleagueship of such a kind is not likely to miss a certain plain fact which good people have found it possible to overlook, namely, that men have bodies as well as souls. The beloved physician, in his calling, is as much within the sphere of religion as the Apostle. (1) How finely this comradeship suggests a ministry which squares with the great facts of human need. Sin and disease are the two great ravagers of human life, and next to sin disease works the tragedy and pathos of human history. (2) It is a natural comradeship if you consider how helpless one of these ministries must often find itself without the other. The world expects that what Paul and Luke represent should go together.

II. The second remark which suggests itself is what a supreme and compelling precedent there is for this association. I will read one verse of the New Testament, for it recalls One in whom the ministry of Paul and 2 Timothy 4:13

Ma. Spurgeon says, in his sermon entitled "Paul—his Cloak and his Books":—"We do not know what the books were about, and we can only form some guess as to what the parchments were. Paul had a few books which were left, perhaps wrapped up in the cloak, and Timothy was to be careful to bring them. Even an Apostle must read. Some of our very ultra-Calvinistic brethren think that a minister who reads books and studies his sermon must be a very deplorable specimen of a preacher. A man who comes up into the pulpit, professes to take his text on the spot, and talks any quantity of nonsense, is the idol of many. If he will speak without premeditation, or pretend to do 2 Timothy 4:16-17

It is especially difficult to avoid egotism when one has to speak of one's own experiences, but Paul's unselfish spirit comes out with remarkable clearness in this passage at three points. (1) In his references to the Roman Christians who seemed to have failed him at the critical moment. At my first defence no one took my part, but all forsook me: may it not be laid to their charge. He does not blame them for their gross cowardice. It is not their desertion of him which weighs on his mind, so much as their failure to seize an opportunity for serving Christ. May it not be laid to their charge! The tone is magnanimous pity. Paul forgives and prays that God may forgive them. He entertains no personal resentment. (2) In his references to his own courage. That was due to Divine aid; he claims no credit for it, and does not draw attention to his own virtues. The Lord stood by me and strengthened me. Paul got power to stand firm and give a ready answer to the judge's queries. He does not plume himself upon his ready wit and bravery, but acknowledges the hand of his Lord in the matter. If he was not intimidated, the glory was God's. (3) The object of his personal deliverance was wider than his own comfort. The aim of God's intervention, in sparing his life for the meantime, was that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Even the postponement of the trial served, in his judgment, to promote the greater ends of the Gospel. He regarded himself consistently as the agent of the cause, not as the main object on which all other considerations should hinge. This absence of pretension forms the third and highest note of unselfishness in the passage. He would not pose as a victim or as a hero in the cause of Christianity.

—James Moffatt.

References.—IV:16-18.—J. Edwards, Preacher's Magazine, vol. xviii. p414. IV:18.—Expositor (5th Series), vol. viii. p146. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture—Timothy, p124. IV:20.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv. No1453.