(to honor God)
Paul, about to depart, pens his last epistle, not to the assembly at Ephesus, where Timothy lived, but to the frail young devoted individual who had a willing heart to suffer for the truth’s sake, (See Phil. 2:20, 21; Prov. 23:23). He sees the need of stirring up exceptional divine “energy in the darkening state of the assembly,” these very difficult times in which we are now living, when many prefer not the whole truth of God. All is compared to a house in disorder. Nevertheless in the midst of the cumbersome religious machinery of Christendom, with so much that dishonors the Lord, there still remains the narrow path of Paul’s doctrine of the “one body” and the “unity of the Spirit” to be kept, outside of all divisions, counting on His faithfulness, His word and His grace to continue therein until He comes. (See Hag. 2:4-7). Wonderful stay for the weak remnant.
He closes this fourteenth epistle and his one hundredth chapter with, “The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you.”
Written by Paul in prison at Rome, before Nero beheaded him. A.D. 67.