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With true affection, and with heavenly wisdom, Paul exhorts his son in the faith to be mindful of his conduct and character. Here, as well as elsewhere, the apostle exhorts to —

I. THE MAINTENANCE OF MORAL DIGNITY.

1. The tendency of Timothy was to yield rather than to command, to sacrifice truth for the sake of peace, and to lessen his own authority by morbid self-depreciation. Probably this is not so common amongst us as self-confidence; but it is a serious fault, and may be a grievous hindrance to usefulness. Unless you believe yourself to be capable of doing something better than you are now doing you will hesitate to attempt it. If you cannot trust God to help you through an onerous duty, you will be in danger of evading it. Much noble service has been lost to the Church and to the world by a foolish self-depreciation. I remember one who became a very successful man telling .me that his early youth was blighted by this morbid tendency, and that he owed all his prosperity to a wise-hearted, loving, motherly woman, who took pity on the sensitive, shrinking lad, and made him believe in himself as one gifted by God to do something in the world. "Let no man despise thy youth." Be manly, and brave, and firm, lest you sacrifice interests which God has entrusted to your charge.

2. But the way to overcome the disadvantage of youth in the opinion of others, and to gain influence over them, is clearly suggested here. It is not to be done by noisy self-assertion, by the evident desire to be prominent, but by becoming, through Divine grace, an exemplar of real Christian worth. "Be thou an example of the believer, in word, in conversation (or behaviour), in charity, in faith, in purity." (The phrase "in spirit" is properly omitted from the revised Version.)(1) It is through our "word" that we chiefly manifest to others the nature of our tuner life, and the tone and temper thus exhibited either weakens or strengthens our influence for good.

(2) But words must be in harmony with conduct, and he would be a poor maintainer of Christ's cause whose words were admirable while his general behaviour was frivolous or faulty.

(3) Nor is it enough to watch over our words and behaviour, but we must pay regard to motive and impulse, because we have to do with and to bear witness for the great Searcher of hearts, and should see that love and faith are the twin motive powers of Our life — love which really cares for the interests of others, faith which lays hold upon the strength and wisdom of an unseen yet everpresent God.

(4) And added to all these must be unquestioned purity, which will make us so scrupulous about moral improprieties that the breath of slander will fade away instantly from the polished shield of our reputation, and will keep the inner life clear and chaste, while it gives us the fulfilment of the Lord's words, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

II. Again, PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIAN WORK is inculcated here as well as maintenance of moral dignity. The apostle appears to have expected an early return to Ephesus, and hence writes.

1. "Till I come give attention to the reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching." The reference is primarily to the public duties of the Christian teacher. The "reading" of Holy Scripture in religious assemblies, which had been transferred from the synagogue, formed no inconsiderable part of the public worship of those days, as any one can imagine who reflects on the cost and rarity of manuscripts. "Exhortation" was often heard — appeals to affection and to enthusiasm, which led many a believer to give himself up entirely to the service of the Lord. And coincident with this was steady consecutive "teaching," by means of which God's Word was expounded, applied, and illustrated.

2. But the work to which Timothy was called required in the first place "a gift," which the apostle says was given him instrumentally — "by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." The word used for "gift" denotes that it came from the Holy Spirit, with whom it is always associated in Paul's writings. These two — the gift of God and the recognition of it by the Church — should ever be combined in the pastor who is working for Christ.

3. But he is foolish and sinful who relies on the possession of a gift or the recognition of it by others. Neglected, the gift will perish, and the life of promise will end in miserable failure. The phrase rendered "give thyself wholly to them" might be more literally translated "be in them" — have your life in such thoughts and truths; let them constitute the atmosphere you breathe, and then your religious work will not be a something artificial and foreign to your nature, hut the necessary outcome of your inward life.

4. Give heed, then, unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Cultivate such gifts as you have, and use them without stint in your Master's service; and see to it that the teaching you give is not the chance utterance of a thoughtless mind, but the product of earnest thinking and of believing prayer.

III. Finally, Paul looked to see in Timothy (and God looks to see in us) READLINESS FOR THE PROMISED REWARD.

1. It is no small blessing which is promised in the 15th verse, "that thy profiting" (or rather thy progress) "may appear unto all." You should be a living epistle, known and read of all men.

2. Nay, more than this, "Thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee." A traveller who was sinking from exhaustion in a snowstorm on the mountain saw his companion suddenly drop helpless at his side; straightway his own peril was forgotten, and, flinging himself beside him, he chafed his hands and rubbed his chest; and by the effort which brought life back to the dying he kept himself alive — he saved both himself and the friend beside him. For your own sake, and for the sake of others, spend and be spent in this glorious service, and not only will your own life be the fuller here, but heaven itself will be made incomparably more full of joy.

(A. Rowland, LL. B.)

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KJV: These things command and teach.

WEB: Command and teach these things.