2 Timothy 4
DODD2 Timothy 4:9
The apostle concludes with requesting Timothy to come to him, giving him an account of the manner in which he had, in his late appearance before the heathen magistrate at Rome, been deserted by men, but supported by Christ; and adding some particular salutations and directions. 2 Tim. IV. 9, to the end.
TIM. IV. 9. DO thy diligence to come shortly unto me.
TIMOTHY IV. 9. I MIGHT add much more on this occasion, but the hope I have of seeing thee ere long, makes me the easier in omitting it. I cannot
Pau urges Timothy to come to him, and bring Mark with him.
but be very desirous of such an interview. Endeavour therefore by all means to come to me here at Rome as quickly as possible. For I need the assistance and company of such a faithful friend, as I have met with very unworthy treatment from some who ought to have acted in a very different manner. And I must particularly inform thee that Demas hath forsaken me, having loved the present world, and followed another way, as his secular views invited him. In pursuit of these, he is gone to Thessalonica, as Crescens is to Galatia, and Titus, for whom thou knowest I have a very high regard, is gone to Dalmatia. Luke alone, whose faithful friendship I have long experienced, is still with me. I desire thou wouldst take the first opportunity of engaging the company of Mark, [and] bring him along with thee, for he is useful to the advancement of my ministry among the Gentiles, having often attended both Barnabas and me in our progress amongst them. Thou wilt perceive, by what I have just been saying, what reason I have to wish for the society of an approved Christian friend and brother, at a time when I am left thus destitute: yet, preferring the edification of the church of Christ, to any personal consideration of my own, I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus, where I some years ago left thee to take care of the flourishing church which I planted there, and with some of whose members I have had so long and intimate an acquaintance. When thou comest hither, as I hope thou quickly wilt, I desire thou wouldst remember to bring [with thee] that cloak, which I left at the house of our
a Demas hath forsaken me.] I think we can neither be certain, that Demas was ever a good man, from Paul’s speaking of him, as one whom in the judgment of charity he hoped to be so, nor can we certainly infer from his dishonourable conduct on this occasion, that he totally apostatized from Christianity, and much less that he never returned to a sense of it any more. John Mark had once acted a part very like this, yet was evidently restored to the esteem of our apostle. Compare
Acts xv. 38, with the next verse of this chapter.
b Bring with thee that cloak.] If φιλεπεν here signifies cloak, or mantle, it is, as Grotius justly observes, a proof of Paul’s poverty, that he had occasion to send so far for such a garment, which probably was not quite a new one. But some understand by it, either a parchment roll, or something like a portmanteau, the contents of which might be more important than the thing itself.
I was eserted by all in his first apology;
friend Carpus, in Troas,ᶜ when I passed through it the last time. And bring also the books which I left there, [but] especially the parchments.ᵈ
When I speak of these parts, I cannot forbear telling thee, that Alexander the brazierᵉ has brought many evils and mischiefs upon me. And I doubt not but the Lord, who exercises a guardian care over me as his faithful servant, will sooner or later reward him according to his works. May it be an instructive and merciful discipline, to reform rather than to destroy him. Against whom, in the mean time, be thou also particularly upon thy guard, or thou mayest receive much detriment from him; for he hath not only done me a great deal of personal injury, but hath greatly withstood our words, and taken every measure in his power to prevent the progress and advancement of the gospel, which is indeed wounding me in the most tender and sensible part.
In my first apology before the prefect of the city, no man, of all the Christians here at Rome, appeared with me, for my countenance and support, but all, either through treachery or cowardice, forsook me.ᶠ May it not be charged to
ᶜ At Troas.] See the Introduction to this epistle, p 421.
ᵈ The parchments.] Bishop Bull thinks these parchments might be a kind of common place book, in which the apostle inserted hints and extracts of what seemed most remarkable in the authors he read.
ᵉ Alexander the brazier.] The name of Alexander was so common, that we cannot certainly say, whether this were the person mentioned Acts xix, 33, or I Tim. 20; but what is here said of this brazier, it is so well with this last passage, that I think it probable it refers to the same man. What we know of Paul’s character must lead us to conclude, that, if he meant not the following words as a mere recollection, he did not however wish evil to him, as evil, but only that he might be so animadverted upon, as to prevent the contagion of his bad example from spreading in the church, and bring him to repentance and reformation, that so he might be preserved from final destruction.
ᶠ All men forsook me.] Many circumstances make it astonishing, that Paul should
have been deserted by the Christians at Rome, in this extremity. When he wrote his epistle to the church there, which must have been ten years before this, he speaks of their faith, as celebrated through the world; (Rom. i. 8) He salutes a vast number of illustrious persons by name, and mentions many of them as his particular friends; (xvi. 3—15;) and we may assure ourselves, that, during the two years he spent there in his hired house, when access was granted to all that desired it, the number, and probably, the zeal of Christian converts would be greatly increased; as indeed he expressly assures the Philippians that it was, and that some of Cesar’s palace were added to them. (Phil. i. 12—14; iv. 22.) We are ready to say, How then was it possible he should be thus forsaken? But there is a material circumstance seldom taken notice of in this connection, which accounts in a great measure for what might otherwise appear so strange. Clement, the companion of Paul, informs us, that he suffered martyrdom under the governors; (as Bishop Pearson and L’Enfant
But Christ strengthened and deliver
their account, as an instance of unfaithfulness to our common Master! Yet I was not left entirely destitute, but can say it with great pleasure, that the Lord Jesus Christ stood by me, and strengthened me with that inward fortitude of soul which no human support could have inspired; that by me the preaching [of his gospel] might be carried on with confidence, and [that] all the nations might hear: for I made my defence in a manner that will, I doubt not, be taken notice of, and reported abroad, much to the advantage of that sacred cause, which is dearer to me than my life. And though this plain and faithful testimony did indeed expose me to great danger, yet I was for the present rescued, like Daniel, out of the mouth of the lion; so that, fierce as he was, God did not suffer him to devour me, when he seemed to have me at his mercy. And I am confident, that the Lord, whose power and faithfulness are always the same, will rescue me from what I fear much more than any thing this body can suffer, even from every evil work; will strengthen me against the most pressing and violent temptations, so that I shall do nothing unbecoming my Christian faith, or ministerial office, and thus will preserve and conduct [me] to his heavenly kingdom, with peace and triumph; to him therefore [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.
I must conclude with desiring thee to salute Priscilla and Aquila, those dear friends, with
explain μαζευχωσαε ετι των πυκνων; that is, as they understand it when Nero was gone into Greece, and had left the government of the city to Tigellinus and Sabinus, prefects of the praetorian guard, and that monster Helius. If this be allowed, it fixes the death of Paul to A. D. 66, or 67. But the cruel persecution, which Nero had raised against the Christians at Rome (in which they were worried in the skins of wild beasts, and burnt alive for a kind of public illumination) was, according to Tacitus, at least two years before this. It is possible, therefore, that many of the excellent persons mentioned above, might have suffered death for their religion, or, according to our Lord’s advice, (Mat. x. 23.) have retired to a distance from Rome. The Asiatic Christians, who came with Paul, as it seems, to rally the broken re-
mains of this once celebrated church, acted a mean part in deserting Paul, as the other Christians of the place did. But it is less surprising upon the supposition above, than it would otherwise have appeared; and it might be among the first fruits of that sad apostasy which Vitringa (as was elsewhere observed) supposes to have begun in the time of Nero, and continued to that of Trajan. See note on 2 Tim. iii. 1.
Carried on with confidence.] So the original σκηροφοριδη here signifies. Calvin truly observes, that it was a glorious testimony to the honour of Christianity, that the apostle could thus courageously maintain it, when all his friends forsook him and his enemies were so fiercely raging against him.
Priscilla and Aquila. This has oft
desires imot y to sa ute his rien s.
whom I have had so agreeable an acquaintance and intercourse these many years; and also the family of good Onesiphorus. In my last journey through Asia and Greece, I had the affliction to part with some of our common friends, whose conversation and company would have been very desirable, had Providence permitted it. Erastus in particular abode at Corinth, and Trophimus I left sick at Miletus: nor did the Lord, who hath made me an instrument of miraculous healing to so many strangers, permit me at that time to be so to him. Endeavour therefore, as I am deprived of these agreeable friends, and surrounded with so many dangers and enemies which threaten my life, to come to me before winter. Several Christians here at Rome desire I would send their commendations to thee; and in particular Eubulus salutes thee, and Psalms, and Linus, and Claudia, and indeed all the brethren in general. My heart is at all times full of the tenderest affection for thee; which I cannot express better than by praying, as I most sincerely do, that the Lord Jesus Christ himself may [be] ever present with thy spirit,
been urged, as a conclusive argument, to prove that Timothy was now at Ephesus, because it was there that Apollos met with them, (Acts xviii 26;) but they might have removed from thence, as they did from Corinth, to which place they came when first banished from Rome. Ib. ver. 2.
Erastus abode at Corinth, &c.] It is probable this was his native city, or at least a place where he had a stated charge. See Rom. xvi. 23. It seems, by this clause, that he was in Paul’s company, when he parted with Timothy, as it is likely Trophimus also was. And, as none can suppose Paul would have mentioned those things to Timothy in this connection, if they had happened many years before, (Acts xix. 22,) I look upon this as a very material argument to prove that he returned into these eastern parts, between his first and second imprisonment at Rome; though probably, if he ever saw Ephesus again, most of the ministers of that and the neighbouring places, with whom he had the celebrated interview at Miletus, mentioned Acts xx. were either dead or removed. See ver. 25, note, and ver. 38, note, Vol. III. p. 303, and 307. Com-
pare the Introduction to the first epistle to Timothy, p. 355.
Left sick] It has been very justly argued from this text, that a power of working miracles did not always reside in the apostles; and indeed, if it had, one can hardly imagine that any good and useful man would have been sick, and died under their notice, which would have been quite inconsistent with the scheme of Providence. Timothy’s frequent infirmities afford a farther argument to the same purpose. Compare Acts viii. 21, note, Vol. III. p. 111. But such good men as these, did not need the miraculous cure of their own distempers, to confirm their faith in the gospel
Come to me before winter] Bishop Lloyd in his Funeral Sermon for Bishop Wilkins, p. 6, comparing with this text Heb xiii. 23, concludes that Timothy did come, and was seized at Rome, and confined longer than Paul himself, but it seems much more probable that the epistle to the Hebrews was written during Paul’s first imprisonment, and consequently several years before this.
VOL. 5.
Reflections on Paul’s being deserted in his apology;
and shed abroad those sanctifying, quickening thy spirit. Grace be vii. and comforting influences of Divine grace, with you. Amen. 2Tim. which may fit thee for all thou hast to do and iv. 22 bear under thy Christian and ministerial character. And, wherever this finds thee, I desire thou wouldst assure my fellow Christians that I wish them well. May grace [be] with you all, as your circumstances require, to render you more eminently useful in the present state, and prepare you for complete and everlasting happiness in the next. Amen.
IMPROVEMENT.
Be this our prayer for ourselves and our friends, that the 22 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with their spirits and ours; that, though we have not seen him here, neither can see him, we may ever feel his vital presence, and may live and act as ever near him, and as conscious that he is ever with us. Then may 17 we promise ourselves that, while he stands by us, we shall be strengthened, how weak soever we are in ourselves; that we shall be comforted, whoever may desert us; that we shall be 18 rescued from the extremest dangers, delivered out of the mouth of the infernal lion, and safely preserved to his heavenly kingdom. That such a confessor as the holy apostle St. Paul should 16 have been deserted, at the time of his apology, when there must have been so large a number of Christians at Rome, may justly appear one of the most surprising circumstances recorded in the sacred history. It teaches us to cease from man, and to repose ourselves with some caution upon the friendship of the very best. It teaches us to watch over ourselves, lest the fear of man should bring a snare upon us, (Prov. xxix. 25,) and lead us to be ashamed of Christ in his members. It concurs with the apostasy of Demas, to warn us that we beware of loving this present 10 world, and keep our eyes more steadily fixed on a better, in which our highest interest lies, and by regarding which our souls will acquire a certain uniform tenor, that will prove their honour and their safety.
The readiness of Paul, amidst such a dearth of true and faith- 10, 12 ful friends, to part with those that yet remained, when he thought the service of Christianity required it, is an amiable and instructive part of his character. They know not the heart of a man, and the duty of a Christian aright, who know not that even the tender and friendly passions are to be guarded against, and admitted no farther than reason and religion will warrant; and that such society as is far dearer to us than any animal delight,
and on the concern he expresses for his books.
or secular accommodation, is often to be given up, that our fidelity to God may be approved.
Once more, it is obvious to remark, that Paul, though favoured with such extraordinary degrees of Divine inspiration, sets a proper value upon books, and expresses a great concern about their being safely conveyed to him. Let us therefore pity the ignorance, rather than imitate the enthusiasm and madness, of those that set learning at defiance, especially in the ministers of the gospel. Let us thankfully acknowledge the Divine goodness, in having furnished us with so many excellent writings, of wise and pious men in all ages; and let us endeavour, by frequent converse with them, to improve our furniture, that our profiting may appear unto all men. Yet let us all remember that, how large and well chosen soever our library may be, the sacred volume is of infinitely greater importance than all that Greece, or Rome, or Britain has produced, or the united labours of all the best of men who have written since it was concluded. And let the Christian minister remember, that the two epistles, through which we have now passed, and that which we are next to survey, are to be esteemed by him amongst the most edifying and important parts even of that incomparable and Divine book.
The END of the FAMILY EXPOSITOR on the SECOND EPISTLE
to TIMOTHY.
THE
AMILY EXPOSI
OR,
A PARAPHRASE
ON
PISTLE OF PAUL TH
TO
TITUS;
WITH
NOTES, AND A PRACTICAL OF EACH SECTION.
INTRODUCTI
TO THE
RASE AND NOTES
ON
F PAUL THE APOS
TO
TITUS.
TITUS, to whom this epistle is addressed, was a Greek; (Gal. ii. 3;) and was probably converted to Christianity by St. Paul, as we may conclude from the title he gives him is own son after the common faith; (Tit. i. 4;) though the particular time of his conversion cannot be ascertained. The earliest account of him we meet with (for Luke does not once mention his name in the Acts) is in Gal. ii. 1, where the apostle says, he took him with him from Antioch to Jerusalem, fourteen years after his conversion to attend the grand council that was held there, in the year 49; and, as Titus was of Gentile parents, and consequently uncircumcised, St. Paul would not suffer him to submit to that rite, that he might not seem to abridge the liberty of the Christian Gentiles, (ver. 3.)
Some years after this, we find the apostle had sent him to Corinth, (2 Cor. xii. 18,) to inquire into the state of things in that church, and particularly to learn what effect his former letter had produced. The intelligence Titus brought St. Paul at his return, gave him the highest satisfaction, as it far exceeded all his expectations; (chap. vii. 6—13;) and, as Titus had expressed a particular regard for the Corinthians, he
A general introduction
thought proper to send him back again, with some others, to hasten the collection for the poor Christians in Judea; (chap. viii. 6.) After this, we hear no more mention of him, till he is spoken of in this epistle, as having been with St. Paul in Crete. It appears, that the apostle had a very great regard for him, not only from his appointing him to take care of the church he had planted in Crete, but from the manner in which he speaks of his discharging the commission he gave him to the Corinthians, and the honourable terms in which he recommends him to them, as his partner and fellow helper; (chap. viii. 23.)
This epistle was most probably written in some part of St. Paul’s last progress through the Asiatic churches, between his first and second imprisonment at Rome; and consequently the last of his epistles, except the second to Timothy: but nothing can be certainly determined, either as to its date, or the place from which it was sent; for though the spurious postscript supposes it to have been written from Nicopolis, yet the contrary seems to be plainly intimated, chap. iii. 12; as the apostle says not, I propose to winter here, (which would have been most natural, if he had resided there when he was writing,) but there; which shews he was at that time in some other place. However, it is plain Titus was at Crete when he received it, where St. Paul had left him, to settle the church he had established there, and carry on the work he had begun. Accordingly the greatest part of the epistle is taken up in giving him directions for the more successful discharge of his ministry among them; and particularly for his behaviour towards those corrupt Judaizing teachers who endeavoured to pervert the faith and disturb the peace of the Christian church.
The apostle, after a short introduction, in which (agreeably to the design of the epistle) he intimates that he was commissioned by Christ to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, reminds Titus of the special reasons for which he left him at Crete.
to the epistle to Titus.
and directs him on what principles he was to act in the ordination of those Christian ministers who were to take the oversight of particular churches; representing them as persons not only of a blameless, but exemplary character, who should be eminent for their piety, and for every social and personal virtue, as well as thoroughly established in the Christian faith; chap. i. 1—9. And, to make Titus more sensible of the necessity of using this precaution, he puts him in mind of those seducing Judaizing teachers with which that church was infested; who, under the mask of greater zeal and knowledge than others, concealed the grossest corruption of morals, and whose mischievous attempts were the more likely to succeed, considering the general character of the Cretans. Such therefore he directs him to reprove with great severity, and, in opposition to their false and dangerous tenets, advises him to accommodate his exhortations to the different sorts of persons with whom he conversed, according to their respective sexes, ages, and circumstances. And, to give the greater weight to his instructions, he admonishes him to be himself an example of what he taught, and by the purity of his doctrine, as well as the innocence of his conduct, to silence his opponents, ver. 10, to the end. Chap. ii. 1—8. St. Paul then proceeds to urge on Titus a care to instruct servants in the duties of their station, that they might, according to their sphere, do an honour to the religion they professed; and represents the obligation they were under to such a conduct, from the great design of the gospel institution, and our Saviour’s sufferings and death, which was to deliver mankind from sin, and form them to universal holiness in heart and life, ver. 9, to the end. Agreeably to this view of religion the apostle exhorts Titus to enforce subjection to the civil magistrate, and a readiness to all good works; to caution against censoriousness and contention, and recommend a meek, peaceable, and forgiving temper: which he intimates might the more reasonably be expected from Christian Gentiles, as before their conversion their character had been so corrupt. This leads him to acknow-
VOL. 5.
A general introduction
ledge the grace of God in Christ, to which all Christians were indebted for the change produced in them, and for the hopes of salvation they were taught to entertain: from whence he takes occasion to remind Titus of the importance of insisting upon the great doctrines of practical religion, in opposition to those empty speculations and useless controversies to which some were attached. In the close of the epistle he directs him how to proceed with respect to heretical teachers; and having expressed his desire to see him at Nicopolis, where he proposed to winter, he concludes with a general salutation; chap. iii. 1, to the end of the epistle.
Upon a review of this, and the two epistles to Timothy, it is natural to reflect how much they tend to illustrate and confirm the internal evidence of Christianity. It has been often observed, and very justly, that nothing sets the characters of great men in so true a light as their letters to their particular friends: while they are acting in the eye of the world they frequently appear in disguise, and the real motives of their conduct lie out of sight; but in their familiar correspondence they open their minds with freedom, and throw off all reserve. If therefore any should object to the argument drawn from St. Paul’s epistles to the churches, that, as they were designed for the public view, he would be upon his guard, not to let any expression escape him that might give the world an unfavourable idea of himself or the cause in which he was engaged; yet certainly, when he is writing, as in this and the two former epistles, to his most intimate friends, who were embarked with him in the same design, and with whom therefore he could use the utmost confidence, we may reasonably expect to find him disclosing his real sentiments, stripped of all artifice and disguise. And now, upon the most accurate and impartial examination of these epistles, what do we discover? Can we trace any marks of insincerity and imposture? Does the apostle wear any other character than that in which he had appeared to the whole world? Does he drop the least hint that can lead one so much as to suspect that he had
to the epistle to Titus.
been only acting a part, and imposing upon mankind? Can we perceive the least shadow of inconsistency between the views he gives of religion in these and his other writings? Is there any thing like that double doctrine which some have charged upon the ancient philosophers? On the contrary, is it not most evident, that he founded his own hopes, and formed his own conduct, upon the very same principles which he recommended to others; that he had no views of secular interest or ambition to gratify, and was influenced by no other motives than those which he openly avowed in the face of the world: in a word, that his character, as well as his doctrine, was consistent and uniform, and his inward sentiments the same with his outward profession?
The instructions he gives his friends for the exercise of their office had nothing of art or subtilty, but were all plain and simple, and centred in that grand design of advancing the interests of religion and the happiness of mankind, which ever lay near his heart: and so far is he from flattering them with the prospect of any worldly advantage, that he exhorts them to be ready after his example, to sacrifice every temporal interest, and even life itself, in the cause they had undertaken to support.
Now if this be allowed a just representation of the case, it will certainly follow, that the apostle was himself thoroughly persuaded of the truth and importance of those doctrines he had taught: and, since it may be easily proved, that the evidence on which he built his faith was of such a nature, as to exclude all possibility of mistake, we may safely conclude, upon the credit of his testimony alone (had we no other arguments to produce) that the Christian religion is not a cunningly devised fable, formed to answer the ambitious or interested views of its authors, but that it is indeed the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
PARAPHRASE AND NOTES
ON
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO
TITUS.