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of healthy doctrine can be expressed in the well -known tag `a sound mind in
a healthy body'.
The form of sound words, which Paul enjoined Timothy to keep, was not
to be one of his own choice or invention, or which he had received from the
leaders of the church as a whole but specifically it was to be an
adumbration, or a preliminary outline of those sound words which, said Paul
`thou hast heard of me'.
We must now give attention to the mode of conveyance `thou hast heard'.
The spoken word precedes the written word. The personal preaching of
the apostle came first, his epistles were supplementary. In Timothy's case,
he had the advantage of having been the personal assistant, confidant, fellow
-worker, and son in the faith of the apostle. He had had many blessed
opportunities of `hearing'. Hearing alone, however, may not be sufficiently
trustworthy when the subject matter is so vital, for
(1)
The ears may be so biased in favour of their owner's desires that
they will become `itching ears' and easily `turned away from the
truth unto fables' (2 Tim. 4:3,4); and the context of this sad
figure prefaces the whole movement with the non -enduring of
`sound doctrine', the equivalent of the `sound words' of 2
Timothy 1:13.
(2)
The ear, too, may sometimes fail to register aright, the memory
may become dim, and consequently when it came to passing the
truth on to others, especially to other teachers, the apostle
suggests a safeguard:
`The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the
same commit thou' (2 Tim. 2:2).
This is in line with the safeguard introduced into the law `in the mouth of
two or three witnesses every word shall be established'. It is in keeping
with the fact that the preachers of the early church were called `witnesses'.
`Ye shall be witnesses unto Me'. Many witnesses were available when Timothy
came to construct his form of sound words. See also Luke 1:1 -4.
(3)
In the third place, the reference to hearing suggests a close
following, as in 2 Timothy 3:10. `Thou hast fully known' or as
the margin reads `Thou hast been a diligent follower of', `my
doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity,
patience'. With such a practical background, the assurance
associated with hearing in verse 14 is more than justified.
`But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast
been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them' (2 Tim.
3:14).
Today, with nineteen hundred years dividing us from the apostle's days
we find our basis and our assurance in the faithful witness given to the
apostle's `sound words' which constitute his epistles. To these we may
repair again and again, bringing all teaching, that of our own and that of
others, to this touchstone, the `form of sound words' enshrined in these
mighty letters, the prison epistles of the apostle of the Mystery.
It is the testimony of Paul, in this second epistle to Timothy, that
`All Scripture' is inspired and profitable. It is also the testimony of this
same epistle that the Word of Truth must be `rightly divided' (2 Tim. 2:15).
With `all Scripture' before us we can discover healthy wholesome teaching in