2 Timothy 2
It is profitable to look at any portion of God’s blessed word, but especially that part of it which bears on times that we ourselves are in. If there be a purposed distinctiveness in any portion of the word which was intended to bear in a special way on the peculiar position which we occupy, then, I say, we are bound in every way to give special and peculiar attention to it.
I suppose there is hardly a Christian anywhere, who is walking with the smallest exercise of conscience before God, who will not freely own that we are in a remarkable era, of this world’s history. And I trust that you would refuse, with all your soul, the horrible idea that (though we are positively in the midst of the confusions which God has distinctly marked out prophetically in His word, and which He says in this very epistle characterize “the last days”), we are here, left simply, to do our best in them. Mark, beloved friends, that notion, if accepted, would not merely minister to the self-will, self-conceit, and human judgment of poor creatures like us, but it would be a slur on the character and care of our God. It would be a slur on the love of Christ for His people and His Church, to say that we are here allowed to grope our way as best we can in the very confusions that are marked out in this word, every kind of wickedness increasing and getting to a head on every side—and yet without one single special instruction for us, without one single truth marked out specially by the Spirit of God to apply to the circumstances in which these times involve us; no, it is this special care of God that makes the second epistle to Timothy, as no doubt many of you know, of special and peculiar value to the saint of God at this present moment. And this is the reason why it has been on my mind just to call your attention for a little to some two or three leading facts and features that are brought out in this chapter. The next chapter I hope to refer to next week, if the Lord will.
Now, first of all, let me say this distinctly to you; and I do so now for the sake of those I have before me who have not had the same opportunity of instruction, or of having these things brought before their consciences, as no doubt many of the elder and aged have had. I notice that there is a distinct character marking both these epistles to Timothy. The first contemplates the house of God here upon this earth in its order; so much so that you will find all the minute directions, even to the distribution of money, marked out. There is no point omitted that could possibly bear upon the well-being of the saints of God, looked at as His house; because it is in that character and aspect that both epistles regard it. It is well to know this, and to be assured of it. There are these two things in Scripture; and I do not hesitate in the least to bring them out, because I am sure of the truth of them in my own soul; and I feel it is wrong not to speak distinctly where one is sure of the truth: one is responsible to God as His servant for speaking what one knows to be His truth. If one were uncertain about it, it would be better to be silent; but if one is clear and distinct as to the truth of God, then there is no reason why it should not be spoken plainly.
There is, then, God’s house, the sphere of His Spirit’s activity, God’s habitation, here upon this earth; and there is beside that, and distinct from it, Christ’s body. The expression “church” is applied to both these; both when it is the house of God—the sphere of profession—that is meant, and when it is the body of Christ, composed of all true members here upon this earth, united by the Holy Ghost to the head in heaven.
Now the epistles to Timothy do not contemplate “the body” at all. That is not their subject; that is not what the Spirit of God is treating of. He is treating of that which owes responsibility to God as His house, His habitation, where He dwells, where there is the rule and authority of His Spirit. This may clear the ground a little, perhaps, to those who do not know these things; and remember, I am speaking tonight more with reference to such, than to those who are already acquainted with them. It was really such who were in my mind when I came here.
When we speak then, as we do, of “the ruin of the church”—and you constantly hear people speaking of it—what does it mean? It certainly does not refer to the “body of Christ”; and yet it is a true expression. It means what is found in Scripture; namely, the ruin, the confusion, the thorough break-up, through man’s incompetency, of what was committed in trust and responsibility into his hand by God. That is what is meant by the ruin of the church; but that is not the ruin of Christ’s body. The body of Christ is as safe as the Head Himself; therefore when we speak of the ruin of the church, we speak of a thing that is true; but at the same time you must be distinct in your mind, and in your thoughts, as to that which can get into disorder and con- fusion, and that which is outside the sphere of man’s responsibility entirely; because the body of Christ was never committed to man’s responsibility, whereas the house of God was.
Now I see all this distinctly and clearly in Scripture; and how can I refuse what I know to be the truth? You may say, “I do not see it.” Very well, then, I say, the Lord help us to search His word more humbly, and whatever is true, the Lord enable us to see it. Only let us beware of any will about it, that is all; because that always hinders in the things of God.
When I come to the second epistle to Timothy I find the house in confusion. It is broken up. I find every sort of thing in it that ought not to be there. Look at this one verse for a moment, though it is anticipating a little; I mean the twentieth verse.
I do not know any passage of Scripture that is more entirely misinterpreted and misunderstood than that; and there is an expression current, which I daresay we have all heard sometime or another, which no doubt has a certain amount of truth in it. It is built upon this Scripture, and the force and power of this Scripture is thereby in measure taken away. The expression is this, “the great house.” There is no such expression in Scripture; but that the house of God, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:1515But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)), is contemplated in 2 Timothy as having become, through man’s failure in his responsibility, like unto “a great house,” with every sort of thing in it, bad and good. There is no such thing in that verse as “the great house”; but the apostle is likening the “house of God,” in the confusion in which it is found at this present moment, to “a great house,” with every sort of vessel, clean and unclean, in it. I simply note this now, because it marks out in the most distinct possible way the difference between the two epistles—the house, in the first epistle, in order; everything arranged and ordered by the Spirit of God, and Timothy instructed how to carry himself there; dangers there were on the horizon, the prospect of what would be developed when the apostle was off the scene; the incipient principles were at work whilst he was there, but to come to a head when he was removed. Still, the thing was there in its order, and in its correctness; but when you come to the second epistle, you find the exact contrast of all that—viz., confusion, things turned upside down, everything out of gear; and the Holy Ghost has marked out through the apostle here for Timothy, and for the saints of God at the present moment, what kind of conduct and character they were to exhibit, and what path they were to pursue, in the midst of this confusion.
Well, now, I will speak of two things, and that will somewhat limit me, in connection with this second chapter tonight. The first is this, that I see increasingly in Scripture that you cannot take up the directions which are so plainly marked out in God’s word with reference to any time in our history, or to any conduct that God looks for from His children, apart from moral condition. That I see everywhere in Scripture. You might have the most perfect code of directions marked out by God, but what good are they to me if my condition of soul is not in some way answering to it? I cannot take them up, I cannot apply them, I cannot use them for myself, unless I am walking with God; and you will find that is the way people break down. It is in the application of the truth where they break down, rather than in their intelligence of it; this is where the difficulty is. There must be a condition of soul suited to God Himself before I can really take His truth and use it for myself in the clearing away of difficulties, or the marking out of my path; or before I can be piloted by it, according to the chart and program of the blessed God Himself, in the midst of all the confusions in which I find myself enveloped in these times.
This then is the first thing in the second epistle. There are certain moral qualities which the apostle seeks to enforce upon Timothy, his son in the faith. In the third verse we have—“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life;” and so on. That is all moral condition of soul—a certain state which the apostle seeks to awaken Timothy to a sense of, in order that he might be fitted to make use of these blessed directions of God with reference to abounding disorder. This is very important for every one of us, old or young; because, be assured of it, half the difficulties of saints of God arise from their condition of soul. It is the state people are in that produces the difficulties; and I do not know anything more detrimental than handling the things of God, if I am not in communion. I do not know anything that is more searing to the conscience, or that has a more lowering effect upon the whole moral tone of a man, than to take up the things of God out of communion. It has a peculiarly deadening effect upon the soul. And that is the reason why I believe you will see, everywhere in Scripture, that there is no thought in God’s mind of a saint of God, either in his individual walk, or as a member of the Church of God, being led apart from that moral quality and tone of soul, under the power of His Spirit. Be assured there is no provision of God for saints not walking with Him. That is an important thing to get clearly before our souls. God has made no provision available to us, apart from characteristics in us, suitable to Himself. Without this, you cannot get people to see and comprehend the things of God; and that is where I think the harm and mischief has been, that there have been attempts to educate people into God’s things. You can never do it. It is through moral condition of soul, and this alone, that we are able truly to discern the mind of God; and thus we see how distinctly the apostle marks it out with reference to Timothy.
Now the first quality that is spoken of here is a very important one. Remembering the hardships that would be met with in such days as second Timothy contemplates, he says, “Thou therefore endure hardness.” You are not fit to be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ in days of confusion and disorder unless you can endure hardness. That is the very first quality that the apostle looks for in Timothy; and it is one that we want, every one of us. Of course it was needed in an especial way in one who was to be in such a prominent position as Timothy, but it is needed for every saint of God. I do not hesitate to say that a person at this present moment who cannot endure hardness (after his measure, of course) is entirely unfitted for that which God contemplates as to His people now. The rest will come by-and-by—blessed rest it will be; but this is the time to go through the hardships, all those things that belong to a suffering testimony in the midst of a world that has rejected and cast out the Lord Jesus Christ.
What I feel is this, that if there were a little more loyalty to Christ in our hearts, more genuine devotedness to His person and interests, we should not want to be in any different circumstances to those He was in Himself; and (if such were the Lord’s will) we should be ready to be thrown into the very forefront in testimony for Him; for it is the path of the Lord Jesus Christ which is the path of His servant. There is really no difference, and therefore you are not carrying upon you the marks that God looks for in His people in the midst of such a scene as this, if there is not the capacity to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You are to be like a soldier campaigning, able to put up with everything.
There is another thing here that is important; that is, in the fourth verse: “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
Now there is immense wisdom—blessed wisdom—of God’s Spirit in the very expressions that are employed in that verse. He does not say, “No man that warreth undertakes the affairs of this life.” He does not say that a man who is warring gives up his lawful occupation and calling. There is a vast difference between a person taking up a lawful calling which God has distinctly marked out for him, and entangling himself with it. The point which the Spirit of God presses upon Timothy here is the entanglement. No man that wars entangles himself; he does not allow the thing that his hands are occupied with to be a net all around him; so that he has not energy, or spiritual desires, or real power of heart, to be for Christ. On the contrary, he keeps himself free, although his hands are occupied with his lawful calling. In spirit, in his affections, he is free; so that he may “please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
Look how wonderfully objective all this truth is, in order to produce a subjective state in us. You will never have a subjective state answering to God or to Christ, unless there is an objective power before your soul to produce it. You cannot get up a subjective state of soul suitable to God. You become a mere legal ascetic if you attempt it. There must be an object which is distinctly before the eye of your soul, with reference to which every thing is handled by you. Look at it here “to please”—whom? yourself? No. Anybody else? No. But “Him who hath chosen you to be a soldier.” You see in this warfare the apostle keeps the eye of the one who is enduring hardness, and walking through the scenes of confusion into which “the house” has fallen, on that blessed One who is outside and above all, and he makes His pleasure to be the commanding power of the heart.
Alas! how little that is the case with any of our hearts! How very little that comes before one’s soul all day long—“Am I doing this for the one who has chosen me? or am I seeking to do the best thing for myself; and leaving Christ outside, as it were?” You may say, “I have got Christ as my object.” Well, of course I do not dispute it, though it is a great thing to say. One hopes and trusts in one’s own soul that one is true as to that; but mark, there is another thing. Christ may be my object, but is there the diligence of heart and soul to be suitable to that object? That is the thing. And it is just as He is before you, and you have got His pleasure before you, and you study it in order to get tastes, and longings, and desires that are after Him—as you consider Him, as you view everything in relation to Him, you get power to do things suitable to Him.
Thus, then, the apostle expresses it, “that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier”; and he goes on, in the next verse, “And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, unless he strive lawfully”; that is, being subject to the whole order and mind of God and of Christ. “The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.”
And now we come to a scripture that I want particularly to press upon you. How is all this made good? You may say, Well, it is an immense thing to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and to toil and labor in the midst of all the things that are here, and to be suitable, and so on; but how is all that secured? Now look at this eighth verse for a moment; and see the company he puts you into. I know no Scripture more precious and blessed, in the midst of the confusion, than it. It is a most precious word of God to drop upon a poor creature’s soul like you and me. “Remember”—mark that. May I just say, in all humility, that our translation fails to give the mind of the Spirit of God in that verse; because, if you read it the way we have it, you would suppose that it was a certain fact that the Spirit of God wanted to press upon the attention of Timothy. Now it is not the fact of Christ’s resurrection that Timothy’s attention is called to at all. There is not a word about the doctrine, or the fact of the resurrection, as such; but the way this scripture runs is really this: “Remember Jesus Christ, of David’s seed, raised from the dead”; and not, “Remember that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead,” &c. There is another scripture that will make this familiar to your minds. I refer to the well-known passage in the epistle of John, where the apostle says, “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.”
That scripture ought to be rendered exactly as this one now before us; viz., “confesses Jesus Christ, come in flesh”; and, “confesses not Jesus Christ, come in flesh.” That is, it is not so much the fact about the Person as the Person Himself, in a certain condition.
So here, it is the company he puts the saints into, with reference to the confusion of the house—that which is before us tonight. What does he say, then, when he wants to produce these moral qualities in the man who has to carry himself in the midst of this confusion? “Remember Jesus Christ, of David’s seed, raised from the dead.” It is wonderful that he should thus link us, as to company, association, and power, with the One who, although He was the seed of David, and therefore entitled to every thing as Messiah (for that is the thought here), takes it all in resurrection. He was rejected in this world by man, refused in everything; though, in virtue of His death and resurrection, as well as the glory of His person, He will by-and-by take up all things in heaven and earth. Such is the company in which he places us. May I not press this upon your hearts tonight? because it is an aspect of Christ’s death which I do think is forgotten. We are familiar with the victim-character of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we do not sufficiently think of the martyr- character of it. He died in both characters. He died as a victim; that is a wonderful truth. What should we have without it? But He died as a martyr at the hands of man for the testimony of God, whose faithful witness He was. His death as a victim settled the whole question of our sins; but it is in connection with His martyr-sufferings and character that we, through grace, can be really on the road of testimony with Him. We could not be on the road with Him in His atoning sufferings. We have all the blessedness that flows out of it, but we could not be on the road with Him as to company; but we—wonderful thing to think of it!—are privileged to be on the road with Christ, in any sense in which the heart apprehends this fact, that He was a martyr for the truth of God in this world, which would not have either God, or Himself, or the truth. In the same measure as I can enter into it, I am in His company, and it is exceedingly blessed to the heart.
In this company of “Jesus Christ raised from the dead” the apostle puts in this word, “My gospel.” There is a distinctiveness, and a speciality, and a peculiarity about those words linked with Paul’s testimony, which the Lord give you to work out for yourselves, if you have not done so already. “My gospel.” It is not the gospel in the abstract, but the peculiar character of testimony which was committed to Paul, and entrusted to him, as one “born out of due time.” All this, then, marks out the moral condition that the Spirit of God, through the apostle, seeks to create in Timothy, as demanded by the terrible circumstances in which the house of God is found in these days. Let me pass over from the ninth verse, where these things are pursued in further details, to the sixteenth: “But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness” {2 Tim. 2:1616But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. (2 Timothy 2:16)}.
Here we get a little description of what was in this house of God. “And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.” Now, these men were in the “house,” and they had introduced this doctrine into it. Just look for a moment at the solemnity of it. If the resurrection is past already, then we are in our ultimate state; if the resurrection is past already, we may settle down here as comfortably as we can: this is the effect of such a doctrine: it brings the most terrible principle of worldliness and earthliness into God’s house; therefore it is that the apostle marks it so distinctly, though it was but one of the things which were then in the “house.”
Now mark what he says: “Nevertheless”—(notwithstanding all these vain babblings, notwithstanding the janglings that were there, the evils of doctrine and practice too), “the firm foundation of God stands.” That is a wonderful thing to have before one’s soul. Notwithstanding all that man may do with what is entrusted to him in responsibility, although he may make the most terrible havoc of God’s things, and introduce the most fearful confusion into God’s house, “nevertheless the firm foundation of God stands.” Nothing can touch that, nothing can alter that; it is a firm foundation; there it stands. There is a seal to it and I should like to dwell a little upon this seal. It is a seal with two sides. “The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His.” Now that, beloved friends, is God’s side. We have nothing whatever to say to that side of the seal, except humbly to own the fact, “The Lord knows them that are His.” What a mercy it is that we have not to say, or decide who are His! No saint of God has to do that. Because, just look at all the mistakes, the ten thousand mistakes, that are made, and would be made!
But now mark what is the other side. “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord (6LD\@L) depart from iniquity” {2 Tim. 2:1919Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19)}. That is our side of the seal. God’s side of it is, “The Lord knoweth them that are His.” Man’s side is, “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” That is, let every one who puts himself under the authority of that Lord, every one who knows the truth of that Lord, and the claims of that Lord, depart from iniquity.
Now how many saints of God are falsely using this scripture—perhaps some in this company tonight—as a kind of relief in the midst of the terrible confusion into which the house of God has fallen at this present moment, and amid all the vain janglings and noise around them. Many Christians—not only those that are outside God’s thoughts at this present moment, but many that own this truth—say, “There is a dear child of God, a beloved saint of God, a beloved servant of God, in such and such a position, surely he cannot be wrong?” I reply that is not your side of the seal at all. You are using God’s side of it. “The Lord knoweth them that are His.” You say, “But is not so and so a Christian?” I answer, I am not disputing it; but that is not the question. The question for me is, not who is the Lord’s; but, Who is departing from iniquity? Here is the question,—Who, having owned His claims, are suitable to Himself? A most solemn question, and that is the meaning of “departing from iniquity.” Where is the person that departs from iniquity? How little that is in our minds!
Remember, I am speaking upon what I know. I remember perfectly well how that scripture came to myself, and what use I made of it. I know, alas! too well how easily one seeks to use Scripture as a warrant for continuing every sort of unsuitability to Christ; because a person who is religious—and by that I mean any one who has a desire after the things of God, in contrast to the mere worldling—if there are certain things that please such a person, and his own will takes the lead in them, he will always think he has the word of God to back him up. And therefore, when people are in false associations and memberships so called, at this present moment—and I do not say it hardly—you will always find this is the scripture which they misapply, totally misunderstanding the mind of God about it; and they say, with reference to any one of these associations, “It cannot be so very wrong; for are there not many dear saints of God in it?” I do not question the presence of such for a moment; for there are saints of God to be found in all the ramifications of Christendom: there are many that would put to shame some who are outside of them, and therefore we have not anything to boast of. It is not that one would stand up and throw a stone at one’s brother, but I am speaking of the truth, and not of people; and the truth is more dear and precious than the people.
Let us not then be found in the misuse of God’s side of the seal. I see those who are, without doubt, His people, scattered up and down, and mixed up with all kinds of things; but here is the point for me: it is an individual word; and I speak it as an individual word for every person’s conscience here tonight, Have you departed from iniquity? “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord”—that bows to the authority of that Lord—“depart from iniquity.”
Now, beloved friends, I trust I need not answer another question; viz., How much? There are some that positively do seem to imply they would raise that question, How much? Oh, I need not answer that question! Surely there is no necessity whatever to answer such a question as that. Because—observe, and nothing is more solemn, deeply solemn, to our hearts than this—viz., What am I associating the name of Christ with? That is the question. If we thought of that, and pondered over it, see how differently it would tell upon the things we are connected with. How much iniquity! Am I to put the name of Christ with the smallest particle of iniquity? Surely not. The Scripture, then, is as simple as it can be: “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from iniquity”—all iniquity. Mark now how it brings out the next verse. “For in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor {2 Tim. 2:2020But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. (2 Timothy 2:20)}.”
That is, the house of God, the sphere of profession here upon this earth, has become, in analogy, like unto a great house, with vessels, clean and unclean, in it: which is simply the meaning of the passage. God’s home, the sphere of profession on this earth, has become, through the incompetency of man, who had responsibility with respect to it entrusted to him, like a house with all sorts of vessels, good and bad, in it.
What is to be done? Now, observe, you cannot leave the house. Bear with me for a moment; there is a little difficulty in that, to some. What I mean by leaving the house is this, that you cannot give up the profession of Christ. There is not a Christian here tonight who would do that. Hence you cannot get outside the sphere of the profession of His name; you cannot leave it. God never tells you to go out of it; God never says you are to get out of this scene of confusion. If He does, show where He says so. No; I cannot get outside of it. Supposing I had the will to get outside, I could not do it; it is out of my power. What then am I to do? Just read. “If a man purge himself.” How simple. Look how individual it is—intensely individual. “If a man purge himself from these”—that is, from the vessels of dishonor that are in the house, from all the elements of confusion that are in the house—“he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work.”
Now I do not touch what is collective at all tonight; I hope to treat of that next week, if the Lord will, in connection with the third chapter. But here we have the simple claim of the truth of God on the conscience, as an individual saint of God, in the midst of the confusion into which the house has fallen in these times through man’s folly. The Holy Ghost by the apostle addresses me and says, Have you purged yourself from those vessels of dishonor? Have you purged yourself from those things that are unsuitable to Christ in the midst of this sphere of profession? He does not say, “If a man purge himself from these, he shall be a Christian, or a true believer in Christ” but, “he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use” {2 Tim. 2:2121If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21)}. Oh how many there are that are not sanctified, not meet for the Master’s use! Do let me drop these words into your hearts this evening, because they have a moral bearing upon us, as well as a historical direction for our path and ways down here. Those words of the Spirit of God come to us with trumpet voice, even to the very oldest of us here, and even to those who have, in mercy, been given to know what it is to escape from the corruptions and confusions which crowd the sphere where His name is named. Do you not see how plainly God is keeping us up, practically, to the maintenance of the truth? It is not simply to glide into it once and for all, but there is to be the daily inward maintenance of what is outwardly expressed; and therefore there must be the cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit; and remember that the filthiness of the spirit is worse than the filthiness of the flesh. Some people would make the latter worse; but it is not so; that is a shame to us, but the other is a dishonor to Christ.
The Lord instruct us and help us by His Spirit to be in suited circumstances in the midst of the confusion of these times, so that we may be more suitable to Himself—vessels meet for His use!