2 Timothy 3

2 Timothy 3:1

Greetings SUMMARY OF II THESSALONIANS 1: Salutation. Patient Waiting Under Tribulation. The Revelation of Christ for Judgment. The Punishment of the Disobedient. Paul, Silvanus and Timotheus. See PNT 1 Thessalonians 1:1. The first two verses are nearly identical.

2 Timothy 3:2

Grace unto you, and peace. See PNT Romans 1:7.

2 Timothy 3:3

We are bound to thank God. Paul states that he prayed ceaselessly for the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 3:9-13). Here he points out how his prayers were answered. The messenger who had returned to him told him many things concerning the church which filled him with thankfulness. One of these was that their faith groweth exceedingly. Though persecuted, their faith did not fail, but became stronger. And with their faith their “charity”, love, “toward each other” also abounded.

2 Timothy 3:4

So that we ourselves glory. On account of these things he spoke their praises in the churches, those of Achaia, where he then was. It is always a stimulus to report to the churches the good work elsewhere, Churches of God. A designation given by the apostles to the churches oftener than any other (Acts 20:28 1 Corinthians 1:2 10:32 11:16,22 15:9 2 Corinthians 1:1 Galatians 1:13 1 Thessalonians 2:14 2 Thessalonians 1:4 1 Timothy 3:5), though also spoken of as churches of Christ (Romans 16:16). Your patience. There was a patient endurance of trial for Christ.

2 Timothy 3:5

A manifest token of the righteous judgment of God. Your sufferings are a proof of judgment to come. The wicked are not receiving their deserts; the righteous are suffering. A future judgment, hence, must come, because God is righteous. That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which also ye suffer. Their sufferings not only proved a judgment to come, but tried them, purified them, and prove them worthy.

2 Timothy 3:6

Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God. Your trials prove a coming judgment, because it is a righteous thing for God to punish those who trouble you. They must be requited for their wrongs.

2 Timothy 3:7

And not only that, but it is a righteous thing that he give to you who are troubled rest with us. That rest would come when there would be no persecutors, no stripes, no stonings, no prisons. It shall be when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven. At the Lord’s coming. Compare Matthew 24:30.

2 Timothy 3:8

In flaming fire. The flaming fire denotes brightness, glory, purity, and also destruction to adversaries. Dazzling brightness is always associated with his coming. God was revealed at Sinai in flaming fire (Exodus 3:2; 19:18). Them that know not God. Know him not because they refuse to know him. See Romans 1:28. And obey not the gospel. This class refuse to accept and obey the gospel. Their day of grace will end with the day of the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:9

Who shall be punished. Those who obey not the gospel shall be punished. The punishment is everlasting destruction. This does not mean annihilation, but an eternal banishment from the presence of the Lord. In Matthew, the doom of the wicked is “Depart from me” (Matthew 25:41). The saints are “ever with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17); the wicked are driven forever from his presence.

2 Timothy 3:10

When he shall come. These final judgments shall be when he comes to be glorified in his saints. The saints risen, glorious, rejoicing in salvation, shall be a glory of the Lord. And to be admired by all them that believe. All believers will look upon him with wonder and admiration.

2 Timothy 3:11

Wherefore also we pray always for you. In view of this glorious judgment, he prays that they may stand and be counted worthy. Of [this] calling. The Christian calling. Fulfil all the good pleasure of [his] goodness. The idea is “Perfect in you the love of goodness and the work of faith”.

2 Timothy 3:12

That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified. Holy lives glorify the Lord.

2 Timothy 3:14

The Man of Sin SUMMARY OF II THESSALONIANS 2: Not to Be Troubled Supposing the Day of the Lord at Hand. An Apostasy Must First Come. Then the Revelation of the Man of Sin. The Wicked One Destroyed at the Lord’s Coming. Exhortation to Stand Fast. Now, we beseech you, brethren. This chapter is written to remove misapprehension on the subject of the Lord’s coming. It shows that it might not be expected until certain events have taken place. These are, (1) A falling away, or apostasy; (2) The removal of some power which hindered the manifestation of the man of sin; (3) The manifestation of the man of sin, and following this, the coming of the Lord. He had told them of these things while with them (2 Thessalonians 2:5), but now writes more fully. He does not seek to show all, but some of the events which will precede Christ’s coming. By the coming. Rather, concerning the coming. His importunity is respecting this and “the gathering of the saints”.

2 Timothy 3:15

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled. Be not agitated, or in distress. Neither by spirit. By some one who says he has a revelation of the Spirit. Nor by word, nor by letter as from us. Nor by one who claims to quote a word or letter from us. It is thought that a forged letter had been circulated to which Paul alludes. In the close of this Epistle he shows how his letters may be known to be genuine. Some suppose, however, that by “letter” he refers to an incorrect interpretation which was placed on his first letter.

2 Timothy 3:16

Except there come a falling away first. An apostasy must precede the Coming. That is, there shall be a general falling away from the purity of the faith. No apostasy of magnitude occurred in the history of the church for centuries, which could answer to Paul’s description, but the gradual declension, corruption, and departure from the ancient faith, which was fully developed a few hundred years later, has always been spoken of by Protestant church historians as “The Apostasy”. There is no good reason for doubting that it is to the apostle refers. And that man of sin be revealed. He shall be revealed then in connection with the apostasy. The son of perdition. This expression occurs once elsewhere, and is there applied to Judas, an apostate (John 17:12). Here it evidently has a similar application. Some power, once Christian, falls away and becomes opposed to Christ.

2 Timothy 3:17

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God. I shall endeavor in a few words to identify this power. Various explanations have been given, but there is only one power that exhibits all the marks given by Paul. Observe these: (1) The man of sin exalts himself above God. (2) He sits in the temple, that is, in the church, for that is always the sense in which Paul uses the term. He is a church power. (3) He claims powers that only belong to divinity. (4) He shows off signs and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9); or, in other words, lays a claim to miraculous powers. Every one of these marks applies to the papacy: (1) Its development was simultaneous with that of the apostasy. (2) Its development was “let” (hindered) until the pagan Roman empire fell, but was rapid after it was “taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). (3) The papacy has set aside divine laws and has made other spiritual laws to bind men, and has claimed divine prerogatives.

A newly-elected Pope is adored and styled “Lord God, the Pope”. (4) It is in the temple of God, that is, it arose in the church, and still claims to be the “Holy Catholic Church”. (5) The claim of Infallibility is “sitting as God in the temple”. (6) The papacy has always claimed miraculous powers, and it is a fact well known that it has often worked off “lying wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). No fact is better established than that the hierarchy of the church have often deceived by false miracles. Indeed, these have often been detected and explained.