Now the first epistle to Timothy depicts for us the order of the house of God, and how man should behave himself in the house of God. The second epistle to Timothy directs the conduct of the faithful when confusion has come in. Already [when Paul wrote] Christian things were no longer in the condition in which they had been formerly. At the beginning, “the Lord added to the assembly daily such as should be saved.” They were manifested and were added in the sight of the world to a well-known body. Now when the Apostle writes his second epistle to Timothy, this was already changed. All he can say is, “The Lord knoweth them that are His.” They might indeed be hidden from man, as the seven thousand were from Elijah. But along with this, there is a rule for the faithful one: “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” Then comes the thought of the great house. We must expect to find in a great house vessels to dishonor as well as vessels to honor, but again there is a rule for the faithful one. He must purify himself from the vessels to dishonor, and not only so, he must “pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.” In this state of disorder I cannot know, as at the beginning, all those who belong to God, but as to my own walk, I am to associate with those who have a pure heart.
J. N. Darby