2 Timothy 2

2 Timothy 2:6-26

XIII OF A 2 Timothy 2:6-26 This section includes 2 Timothy 2. In the preceding chapter we discussed somewhat the first five verses of this chapter, but in order to a full understanding of the connection we now glance at the whole chapter.

The first question I propound is this: What the gospel provision for the transmission of the correct teaching? The answer to that question is this: “And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). Evidently the gospel contemplates a succession of the gospel ministry from the days of Christ to the end of the world. What Christ gives to Paul, Paul gives to the churches and commits to the preachers, and charges the churches and the preachers to commit that same thing, without variation, to faithful men coming after, that they in their turn may teach others. It is not my intention to show that there has been, historically, such a succession of churches and gospel preachers. I think there has been such succession, but I think it would be very difficult to prove it according to human history, if for no other reason, because so very large a part of that history was written by the enemies of evangelical Christianity.

Particularly in the dark ages, those faithful to apostolic doctrines were so hunted and persecuted they had no opportunity to preserve records. But we do see faithful churches and faithful preachers now, and every one would be able to say, as far as his own knowledge goes, it was transmitted to him. I don’t suppose that anybody ever originated it. From this day back to Christ, in some way, by some faithful preacher or other, or by some faithful church, the truth has been handed down. That is the answer to that first question.

The second question is: What is the first metaphor, or figure, by which the apostle illustrates the faithful minister? The answer to that is to be found in 2 Timothy 2:3-4 : “Suffer hardships with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

In this illustration, or metaphor, the Christian is compared to a soldier, a regularly enlisted soldier, and as a soldier gives up his private business, places his whole time and his entire service under the direction of the power that enlisted him, so the Christian preacher should not entangle himself with the affairs of this world. As a faithful soldier has no time to run a farm, or be a merchant, or be a banker, or to follow any other kind of business, so it was certainly the purpose of our Lord that the preacher should make preaching his life’s business.

On that similitude of the Christian as a soldier, much of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress is founded, using that chapter in Ephesians about putting on the helmet, the breastplate, the girdle, the sandals, the shield, the sword. The Christian is contemplated as waging warfare. Paul says of himself in this letter, “I have fought a good fight.” From that idea come some of our best hymns: Am I a soldier of the cross,

A follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own His cause,

Or blush to speak His name? Must I be carried to the skies

On flowery beds of ease, While others fought to win the prize,

And sailed through bloody seas?

What the second metaphor, or illustration of the faithful preacher? That is found in 2 Timothy 2:5 : “And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned except he contend lawfully.” References to the games in Paul’s letters are so abundant, we cannot interpret him without a knowledge of them.

The principal games in Greece were called the Olympic games. These games were held on the plain of Olympia, on the river Alpheus. The isthmus of Corinth connects upper and lower Greece. The lower part is called the Peloponnesus, which is almost an island. In the western part of the Peloponnesus is the river Alpheus. On the right bank of that river lies a level plain.

In that plain is a grove sacred to Jupiter, and in that grove is a marvelous temple. In that temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world – a colossal statue of Jupiter Olympus, done in gold and ivory, by Phidias, one of the greatest of the Greek sculptors. Then there was the statue to Minerva overlooking Athens. She was the patron goddess of the city and so here this gigantic statue, made of ivory and gold, represented the patron of the Olympic games. These famous games were held from 776 B.C. to A.D. 394, over a thousand years. They were discontinued by an edict of a Christian emperor of Rome – Theodosius, but for that thousand years they attracted the attention of the world.

These games were held every four years – the first full moon after the summer solstice. From them chronology was reckoned for the Greek world. The first Olympiad was 776 B.C., the second four years later; so by four-year periods they continued until their abolition. Pagan Rome reckoned from the building of their city, until the new epoch of Christ’s birth superseded both.

Commencing 776 B.C., for one or two Olympiads these games were foot races only. Soon after were added quoit and javelin throwing, wrestling, boxing, leaping, and still later chariot races. A hippodrome was built covering a circuit of 2,400 feet. The chariots had to drive around that circle twelve times, making a five-mile race. In Ben Hur there is a brilliant description of the chariot race. In the Greek games were no combats with weapons, no gladiators, no fights with lions. The Romans added these bloody contests.

That the whole Greek race might attend the Olympic games, a truce was established so there would be no war anywhere between the petty states while the Olympic games were being played. No state was allowed to send an armed man up to these games. It was a time of peace and festivity. The general and peaceful gathering of all the petty Greek states at the Olympic games gave them the name “panegyris” as opposed to each particular “ecclesia.” This distinction Paul utilizes in the letter to the Hebrews. The general festive assembly of all the saints when warfare is over, the eternal feast in the presence of God.

Now let us consider 2 Timothy 2:5 : “And if a man contend in the games, he is not crowned except he contend lawfully.” That brings us to the rules of the games. In the first place, they were open to all classes of competitors. Whatever might be the home distinction between the plutocrat and the poor man, at the Olympic games they were on a dead level. It was not how rich is the man, nor how illustrious, but can he now as a man win this athletic contest?

The second rule was that he must be of pure Greek descent. A mixed blood could not contend. He must make proof of that before the judges.

The third was that he must have had ten solid months of preparation under competent coaches. After that ten months of training he must give one more month to exercise. No man, whatever his wealth or social status, could compete without this thorough training and exercise on the field itself. Mark the bearing of this on the training of preachers, if you please, because this is a preacher illustration.

The next rule was that he, and every member of his family, must take an oath that he would observe the rules of the games, that he would not play foul. His own father or brother must take the oath that he would play fair. If he played foul in one of these games he was judged a degraded man and must pay a heavy fine. All over the grove were seen remarkable works of art paid for out of the fines assessed on men who would not play fair. Hence we have in our times the proverb: “Play the game according to the rules.”

The next rule was that no form of bribery should be used, either to bribe a judge, or to bribe a competitor, paying him so much money to let them win. Whoever offered or took a bribe was disgraced.

The next rule was that the crown awarded to the victor must have no intrinsic value. They wanted no financial incentive. Honor and glory – not gold and jewels – must be the incentive.

The next rule was: No women were ever permitted to be present. In all of my readings I do not remember but one woman being present at these games. A woman might enter a chariot in competition, but some male friend must drive the chariot.

The next rule was that this competitor, having shown that he was born a pure Greek, must also show that he had never been disfranchised, that he had never been guilty of a sacrilege, like robbing a temple or anything of that kind. These were the rules.

Let us see again: “And if a man contend in the games, he is not crowned except he contend lawfully.” He must observe every regulation, and his crown of victory was a wreath. In order to deepen the interest in those panegyric assemblies, the great poets were here accustomed to recite their poems, and the great sculptors and painters to exhibit their masterpieces, so that it was somewhat of the nature of a fair. They could sell these poems, or those pieces of sculpture, or paintings. After a while people not only came from Greece proper, but from all the colonies of Greece, all along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea – wherever in the world the Greeks had a city, wherever Alexander’s conquest had extended, the Greeks would come here to witness or to contend. At first the assembly lasted just one day. Just think of what it would cost to be present for one day!

Later it lasted five days. It was a glorious time, those five days.

Those were the Olympic games. And yet we must see in some of Paul’s writings references to the Isthmian games near Corinth and the amphitheaters of Greek cities, as at Ephesus. Later when the Roman idea dominated, they put in gladiators, and fights with lions. They became blood-crazed, and women were allowed to attend. When gladiators fought until covered with blood, it was at the option of the crowd to indicate whether they wanted the combat to stop without death. They voted by turning their thumbs up or down; and it was noticeable that women usually voted for a fight to the death. So are they merciless in the Spanish or Mexican bull fights. But all these bloody combats were of Roman origin. Paul may have spoken literally in saying, “I have fought with wild beasts at Ephesus.”

Now, brother preacher, you are entering a race. As Paul says, “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” You will not receive your crown if you do not contend lawfully – if you do not observe the rules of Christ’s games. As they must be of pure Greek descent so must you be born of the Spirit. You must train, you must lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset you. You must fix your eye upon the heavenly crown, not of fading laurel or olive bough, but the crown which Christ, the righteous Lord, will give to us at his appearing. Said Paul: “I have run my race and finished my course, and henceforth there is laid up for me a crown which Christ, the righteous Judge, will give to me.” It is laid up in some of the mansions of heaven, and if you were permitted to visit heaven’s gallery of waiting crowns, you might see the most dazzling crown ever designed for human brow.

That is Paul’s. When does he receive that crown? When Jesus comes, in the presence of the universe, he will be crowned for being faithful to the game, for playing the game according to the rules. One of the most convincing arguments in the whole Bible for the necessity of ministerial training is this illustration of Paul comparing the preacher’s preparation to the work of a soldier and to a contender in the Olympic games.

The next illustration or metaphor Isaiah 2 Timothy 2:6 : “The husbandman that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruits.” It is the farmer this time. First a soldier, then a con tender in the games, now a farmer. What about his work? Whoever does the work must receive first pay. No matter who owns the land, this man who did the plowing, who did the hoeing, who did the planting and cultivating, before anybody else gets anything, he is entitled to his part. What a fine thought to apply to political economy: not to let the man who does the work be deprived of what is coming to him. Therefore, they who preach the gospel shall live of the gospel. The laborer is worthy of his hire.

The fourth metaphor or illustration is covered in 2 Timothy 2:10-12, the thought culminating in, “If we suffer with him we shall reign with him,” and it is expressed in these words: the cross before the crown. We do not come to the crown first; we go by the way of the cross. That is the given order. What Shylock said of the Jew is true of the Christian, “Sufferance is the badge of all our tribe,” and we must suffer if we would reign. On that point we have some magnificent hymns. One of them is:

Must Jesus bear the cross alone And all the world go free?

No, there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me. Or, the way that hymn was originally written: “Must Simon bear the cross alone.” On the way to Calvary, they found a man named Simon coming in from the country, and when Jesus broke down they compelled Simon to bear his cross and that song originally read: “Must Simon bear the cross alone and all the world go free?”

I knew a preacher who once invited all who thought their sufferings beyond their strength, more than they could bear, to come and hear him preach a sermon. There was a big crowd out, and it was a burdened crowd. He took this text: “If we suffer with him we shall reign with him,” his theme being the cross before the crown. He drew a picture of the pilgrim who bears the cross. “If any man will be my disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” He showed how the disciple from a child must bear a heavy cross, and how at times he stumbles with it, groans under it, is weary of it, envies people who have no burden, but how after a while, bowed down with the burden of the cross of long carrying, with trembling feet he comes to the Jordan of death. And when he gets there he shouts and takes his cross, as Elijah took his mantle, and smites the river of death with it and divides the river, going over dry-shod, leaving his cross behind never to be seen any more forever, and goes up to his waiting crown. So it pays to carry the cross even that long, as with it he divides the river of death.

Notice in 2 Timothy 2:10 : “Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sake.” There we come to a new motive. “Why do you endure all this suffering, Paul?” “Not only for Christ’s sake, but for the elect’s sake. I am anxious for their salvation. If I can reach more men by suffering, I will bear it. If I can save souls by my bleeding wounds, by my jangling chains, by my stripes, and by my imprisonment – if that gives me more power in converting men, then for the elect’s sake I will bear it.”

I next call attention to a great theme in 2 Timothy 2:15 : “Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.” What a commentary that is upon the necessity of ministerial training. Be careful to present thyself approved, tested. God puts us to a test, and we are to endure this test, and we should be very careful that we are approved under any test he may propose. “Handling aright,” or as a good rendering states it, “dividing aright the word of truth.” I have heard many sermons on “the right dividing of the word of truth.” The idea is that of a farmer plowing a straight furrow, not crooked, curved, or zigzag. I have seen in a great field men plowing a straight line for a mile – straight as an arrow. So, when we come to the discussion of the truth, we should plow a straight furrow, divide it right, handle it right to flush something, but go straight to the mark. We should not zigzag around among words as if we were tryline, and if we are tested as a minister of God we can do that.

Here is one way by which we may know that we are plowing a straight furrow: If we put on some passage an interpretation which in the next book will run up against a wall, or strike it, that furrow won’t go clear through the Bible and we have the wrong idea about it. If we have the right idea it will be a straight furrow from Genesis to Revelation. It will be according to the canon, or rule of the truth.

For instance: If we so preach election that we knock over some other doctrine; or if we so preach on human effort as to plow up the doctrines of election and predestination, then we have not plowed a straight furrow. What a great theme for ministerial training!

Now let us consider 2 Timothy 2:18 : “Hymeneus and Philetus, men who concerning the truth have erred, saying the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some.” What do they mean by saying the resurrection had passed already? Mainly this: They argued that the resurrection of the body that dies is foolishness) and that what is meant by the resurrection is the conversion of the soul. That the quickening of the soul in regeneration is the only resurrection. Later this idea succeeded: That the resurrection is when the soul, at death, escapes from the body which held it. It has no more use for the body than a butterfly has for its cast-off chrysalis. Paul says that that doctrine eats like a cancer.

It denies the salvation of the body, and thus denies the real resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice further he says that they overthrow the faith of some. Does this mean that these men so fell away from grace as to be lost forever? Let us look at the next verse: “Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal.” Here were men who professed to be Christians. Now come these false teachers and persuade them to abandon the true teaching, overthrowing their faith. Does that mean apostasy in the modern sense of the word? “The foundation of God standeth, having this seal.” What is the seal? ,The seal is the impress of the Holy Spirit, and on every seal there are two surfaces, and on each surface is an inscription.

On this seal the first inscription is: “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” The Lord’s true man is scaled, and the impress on one side of the seal saith: “The Lord knoweth them that are his,” whether men do or not, God does. Judas was not sealed.

Now let us look at the other side of the seal: “And let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteous-ness.” One inscription shows God’s infallible knowledge of their salvation. The other shows that whom God saves departs from iniquity. These are the two inscriptions on the seal. Let us never talk about baptism being the seal. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and that seal has two sides – two different impressions on it. First, “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” Second, those that are sealed depart from iniquity. And if a man never departs from iniquity, Jesus will say, “I never knew you.”

We now come to 2 Timothy 2:20 : “Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work.” In every great house – that is, in every great congregation, every great church – are different vessels. They are not all the same thing. Some are vessels unto dishonor, some unto honor. One may be compared to gold, another to silver; others are just wood, inflammable, and will perish in the fire. That is what is meant by a vessel of dishonor in the church.

Compare 1 Corinthians 3:12-13. But though a man be a false professor while in the church, the way is yet open for his conversion. If he will purify himself from that dishonor, seek purification in the blood of Jesus Christ, he shall become a vessel of honor.

1. What the gospel provision for transmission of correct doctrine and what does this necessarily imply?

2. What the first illustration in 2 Timothy 2 to show ministerial fidelity, and what the particular lesson taught?

3. What the second illustration and its particular lesson?

4. Cite from Paul’s writings at least six metaphors based on the athletic games of ancient Greece and Rome.

5. Give an account of the Olympic games, the place and its celebrities, what the time interval between them, how long did the festival last, how long the period of their observance, how used in chronology, when and by whom abolished?

6. What the games?

7. What additions to the Greek games made by the Romans?

8. What the rules of the Olympic games?

9. What the bearing of the illustration on the necessity of ministerial training?

10. Name another distinguished place for these games.

11. What other arenas for these games in all great Greek cities, citing one?

12. How did the Greeks provide for peace between, the petty warring Greek states at the Olympic games?

13. How did they distinguish in name between this general gathering and the governing body in a particular state and how does Paul use and apply both names?

14. What the crown awarded, why not of intrinsic value and how does Paul contrast the Christian’s crown?

15. When is the Christian’s crown awarded?

16. What features of a fair characterized the Olympic games?

17. What Paul’s fourth illustration of ministerial fidelity and in what phrase do we embody it?

18. Cite the hymn based on this illustration and how did it originally read?

19. Give some account of the preacher’s sermon to all who felt that their cross wag too heavy and how did it end?

20. What new motive does Paul introduce in Christian suffering and how do you apply it?

21. Show the application to ministerial training in the great theme in 2 Timothy 2:15.

22. What is the idea in “rightly dividing” or “handling aright” the word of truth?

23. What is the original meaning of those who said: “The resurrection ia already past”?

24. The later meaning?

25. How does Paul characterize the heresy?

26. Expound the reference to the seal and its inscriptions?

27. Expound the passage concerning vessels of honor and of dishonor in a great house, i. e., (1) What the meaning of the house? (2) Who are meant by vessels of honor? (3) By vessels of dishonor? (4) The hope held out to vessels of dishonor? (5) Compare with the passage in 1 Corinthians 3.