2 Timothy 3

The living ministry is a ministry that never loses sight of its original and spiritual purposes in the dull round of a mechanical or perfunctory discharge of the external duty; it will be in itself, on its practical side, an example of its doctrine; it will set that doctrine forth in a spirit at once transparent and fearless, unpretending and scholarlike; it will have its frank and independent word on every matter that affects the hopes or the integrity of mankind without the folly of running about to proclaim its independence, and saying bold things only to show that it dares to; it will free itself from all prejudices that impair its single-mindedness; it will place itself among men as a genuine helper of humanity in all its garbs and all its trials, brave as a prophet, devoted as an apostle, tender as John, fearless as Paul, ardent as Peter, blameless as James, a learner of the Christ, a workman whose errand is from heaven to persuade and lead men’s souls thither. When such a ministry is realized, be sure not only that it will not have to dispute its title to honor, will not have to plead for a hearing, will not complain of a decline of its prestige; be sure not only that the eager heart of the community will reverence it, will leap to listen to it, but be sure also that the reign of irreligious worldliness will be broken up, and the fairer kingdom of spiritual truth and life will be established on its ruins. F. D. H.

1. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers 2 of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthank- 3 ful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, de- 4 spisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than 5 lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn 6 away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women 7 laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the 8 knowledge of the truth. Now as James and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also 9 resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.

10. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, 11 charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at 12 Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, 13 and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and se- 14 ducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast 15 learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able 16 to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 17 instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

It is the truth which by the Spirit is made to penetrate as light into the intellect, revealing its objects to faith; and to purify and change the current of the affections, directing them toward all that is comprehended in duty. The apprehension of truth, spiritually discerned, and the energy of love divinely evoked, constitute the essential elements of the inner life. Both processes depend for continued action on the influences of that divine agent, who at first reached, through the Word, the reason and the heart. If, then, you would grow in the divine life, if you would secure the necessary renewing of the Holy Ghost day by day, the first rule is, that you must keep the mind in contact with the truth, and keep the channel of divine influence open by prayer. Contact with the world, conversation and intercourse with different minds in various states of opinion and feeling, books, newspapers, magazines, reviews, business distractions, political excitement, social dissipation—these, and a thousand other things in the doings and details of daily life, may obscure the light of truth, shade spiritual objects, pervert the moral judgment, sophisticate the conscience, and thus create a necessity for a fresh infusion of that element in which all divine things stand fully revealed! Go, then, and seek for that in the way through which it was obtained by psalmists and apostles—“meditating in the law of the Lord,” letting in the light of the “Word of Christ,” thus reviving the forms and images of spiritual truth that had got eclipsed. But as truth itself needs to be wielded by a divine hand; as the heart gets cold when the head gets dark; as the affections are wounded and chilled by error, as well as estranged or perverted through the insidious influence of the world; and as for this deeper element of the inward life you need the action of the Spirit with the truth, pray for that; for it is to be obtained by prayer. Time may press, and toil may call, or toil may have fatigued, but, thanks be to God, you are not to be heard for your much speaking, but for your earnest speech. The only way, perhaps, by which the calls of daily duty can be met now as Christians ought to meet them, is by throwing into brief but frequent spiritual exercises the energy and earnestness with which they lay hold of their ordinary occupations. In this way, the busiest man may be able habitually and successfully to seek for “the renewing of the Holy Ghost,” by the mind being constantly kept in contact with the truth by which he works, and by that “prayer of faith” being habitually offered by which his effective agency is secured. A single text, fastened on the mind of a morning, may animate and guide during a whole day. An ejaculatory aspiration thrown out on entering the counting-house, or when passing along a street, may strengthen the hands to lay hold of work, and steady and “keep the feet” in the way—“the way of God’s commandments.” T. B.

2. Lovers of their own selves. Selfishness is contrary to the habitual temper of our Lord Jesus Christ, “who pleased not himself.” It is the cause of all sin, the opposite of all holiness and virtue; is the source of innumerable other sins, and is placed by the apostle as the head and leader of the eighteen vices which he enumerates as the marks of perilous times. J. A. J.—But, in proportion as the spirit of selfishness should at any time prevail, the others might be expected in a corresponding ratio to follow. That spirit fitly stands at the head of this black catalogue of moral evils, being in a manner the root-quality out of which the rest will, as circumstances admit, inevitably spring, and being that also which more almost than any other bespeaks the disregard of Christian verities and the absence of their influence on the heart. P. F.

Covetous. If selfishness be the prevailing form of sin, covetousness may be regarded as the prevailing form of selfishness. Entering with the first transgression, and violating the spirit of the whole law, it has polluted and threatened the existence of each dispensation of religion; infected all classes and relations of society; and shown itself capable of the foulest acts. J. H.—Commerce is covetous: competition is without bounds; rapid fortunes, sudden falls, speculations without end, hazards, excitements for gaming under all forms; such is the new mode of satisfying the old thirst for gold. Industry is covetous: those admirable inventions which are continually succeeding one another aim less at the progress of art than at the making of money; produced by the hope of gain, they hasten toward gain. Ambition is covetous; that solicitation for office which crowds all the avenues to authority aims less than formerly at honor, and more at money. The struggle of parties is covetous. Legislation is covetous: in it, money is the chief corner-stone; money chooses the arbiters of our social and political destinies. Marriage is sometimes covetous: the union of man and woman becomes a secondary matter. Literature is covetous: impatient of producing, and more impatient of acquiring, the literature of the present day spends its strength in unfinished, defective, extravagant works, perhaps immoral and impious, which cater for the tastes of the multitude, and pour into the hands of their authors streams of gold unaccompanied by glory. Monod.

4. You may be lovers of pleasure; it is natural, it is reasonable, for you to be so; but you must not be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. This is the true line that separates harmless gayety from criminal dissipation. It is a line drawn by the hand of God himself, and he will never suffer it to be passed with impunity. He claims on the justest grounds the first place in your hearts. His laws and precepts are to be the first object of your regard. And be assured that, by suffering them to be so, you will be no losers even in present felicity. P.—A man in whose soul the earnestness created by the thought of death and judgment has found place can never be frivolous in his recreations; questionable amusements, if they once had a hold upon him, will drop off when that new life circulates and stirs within him. And a man who has really tasted the peace and pleasantness of communion with God would sooner deprive himself of natural repose than desecrate holy seasons. Plant by God’s grace the faith and love of Christ in any man’s soul, and you have then a perfect security for the innocence of his recreations, and for the devout consecration of a just proportion of his time to God. E. M. G.

5. To quiet and pacify a natural conscience, many who deny the power of godliness submit to the drudgery of maintaining the form thereof. Some do it to impose upon the world, that they may gratify their ambitious or covetous desires; and others do it to impose upon themselves, that they may not be “tormented before the time.” R. W.—The hypocrite seeks the credit of qualities which he not only does not possess, but knows he does not possess; it is a conscious deception. To complete the idea of hypocrisy, there must be a reference to some selfish advantage. The pretension is not only fraudulent, but the fraud of meanness, the grossest of all forms of insincerity; “the lie,” as Bacon says, “that sinketh in.” The common instincts of honor accord with the Bible in declaring it the guiltiest of all sins that are not crimes. It is the most fatal enemy that Religion has to confront, and tearing off its mask is her most unwelcome task. Yet superficial critics persist in making her chargeable for the very insults it heaps upon her. F. D. H.

8. An old tradition among the Jews had handed down the two names here mentioned as those of the leading magicians who endeavored to rival the miracles of Moses, and foil him in his mission. The conflict now, as of old, was essentially one between God’s truth on the one side and the devil’s lie on the other; between the one grand remedy of heaven for the ills of humanity and the wretched devices of self-seeking, fraudulent men—men, it is added by the apostle, corrupted in their mind, reprobate (or worthless) concerning the faith. Such was generally the condition of the class of persons who assumed the delusive pretensions referred to, and plied the infamous traffic connected with them. From the very nature of things, their consciences must have been entirely sophisticated, and a moral state induced strongly repellent to the faith of the gospel. 9. But (such is the conclusion of the matter) they shall not make progress; for their folly shall become manifest to all, as THEIRS also came to be. The triumph of truth over error, of reality over presumption, should now, as of old, become apparent. P. F.

13. “Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” They deceive themselves, and are deceived by themselves as well as deceive others. Thus they cut off the power of motives. We can not reach truth by the experience of sin any more than we can make good legislators out of law-breakers and culprits. The blindness of the mind is the worst hindrance against reformation. T. D. W.

15. In youth rich stores of divine knowledge are most easily acquired. Deep and saving impressions are then most easily made. It is young recruits that become the best soldiers, and young apprentices the best mechanics; and the best Christians are those of whom, trained by a Lois or a Eunice, a saintly mother or mother’s mother, we can say, in Paul’s words to Timothy, “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.” T. G.

Through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Faith in Christ is the key which will unlock and give access to the treasures of saving wisdom which are laid up in the Old Testament. The Bible is an organized whole, and Christ and the Cross of Christ are wrought into the structure of it, although they do not always meet the eye. He who by faith sees “Christ and him crucified” in the Scriptures is in immediate possession of the ground-plan of the holy volume. He will observe how the original promise respecting “the seed of the woman” was a germ of hope planted in the earth, which, by constant accretions from new prophecies and new types, had expanded itself into full blossom, when the virgin-born appeared to fulfill it. He will observe how, as the ages rolled away, the light of revelation grew brighter, and how the prophets, in the greater spirituality of their religious precepts, and the greater explicitness of their predictions, were many steps in advance of the law. He will observe how, from the sacrifice of Abel downward, every victim which fell at the altar of Jehovah prefigured the great sacrifice of the death of Christ. And, in reciting the Psalms, he will feel that the Spirit of Christ, which was in those sweet psalmists of Israel, testified darkly beforehand of the sufferings of Christ and the glory which should follow. Thus the whole of Scripture is welded together in the counsel and design of God; and we know that, as regards man, that counsel and design is all bound up in one word, “Christ.” He was “the Lamb slain” in the counsels of eternity “from the foundation of the world”; and accordingly in every chant of God’s holy prophets, which have been since the world began, there has always been an undersong of him—an undersong which may be caught by every spiritual ear. E. M. G.

16. The Scriptures give Divine, and therefore infallible direction, for doctrine—the didactic teaching of the truth concerning God; “for reproof”—the refutation by proof of error concerning God; “for correction”—the setting right or rectifying the wrong principles of practical ethics; “for instruction in righteousness”—the positive nurture of the soul in experimental knowledge of the way in which a sinner may be accounted righteous before God. And this, it will be perceived on a little reflection, is a marvelously logical classification of their uses; and it is exhaustive, as covering all the possible wants that man can desire to have met by a revelation. As a being endowed with reason, and capable of believing only what he conceives to be truth, his religion must embrace a doctrine of God and his relation to God. As a creature liable to be deceived, by error and unbelief concerning God and his relations to God, his religion must have a guide to warn against and expose the wiles of error, that are ever tampering with his “evil heart of unbelief.” As a

being whose passions are ever blinding his conscience in reference to duty toward God and man, his religion must supply him with a rule of right, by which to correct his crooked judgments and amend his crooked ways. As a being capable of a birth to a new and everlasting life, his religion must supply him with a nurture under the new law of righteousness which the faith that is unto salvation teaches him. So that it may be affirmed with truth, that no want of the human soul can be conceived which is not provided for under one or other of these four heads. S. R.