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#16.
Consideration and Understanding (2: 3-7).
pp. 194 - 199
The last two articles have been largely devoted to material, any spiritual application of
its teaching being deferred until it was in some measure appreciated at its Scriptural
value.
It is evidently intentional that there should be three "good" (kalos) things mentioned in
II Timothy, and that these should be associated:
(1)
THE GOOD DEPOSIT (II Tim. 1: 14).
(2)
THE GOOD SOLDIER (II Tim. 2: 3).
(3)
THE GOOD CONTEST (II Tim. 4: 7).
The first comes in an exhortation to Timothy himself, in which he is urged to "guard"
that good deposit of sacred truth which had been entrusted to him. The second is an
impersonal figure, setting before Timothy the qualities so necessary to be possessed if
this sacred trust is to be maintained. The third is the clinching example of the Apostle
himself--he had endured; the crown was won. In each case there is insistence upon the
ministry of the Word, and the particular ministry associated with the apostle Paul.
In the context of the first we find the exhortation, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of
the testimony of the Lord, nor of me His prisoner", coupled with joyful acceptance of
"the afflictions of the gospel" (II Tim. 1: 8). This is followed by a reference to the
Apostle's suffering and ministry (II Tim. 1: 11, 12), and then the exhortation to "hold fast
the form of sound words" which Timothy had heard of Paul.
The passage however is not without its comfort and strength. If afflictions are to be
expected, they can be endured "according to the power of God" (II Tim. 1: 8). If Paul is
forsaken and suffering, he knows Whom he has believed, and is persuaded that He can
keep until that day (II Tim. 1: 12). So also the enjoinment to guard the good deposit is not
made without a reminder that it is to be accomplished "by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth
in us" (II Tim. 1: 14).
So, when we come to the context of the second "good" thing, the good soldier, we
find emphasis laid upon the special ministry and message of the apostle Paul: "The
things heard of me"; "according to my gospel" (II Tim. 2: 2, 8). There is the same
emphasis upon endurance and suffering which we have considered in relation to the
soldier, athlete and husbandman, and there is the same comforting assurance of mighty
power, "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (II Tim. 2: 1).
In the passage dealing with the third "good" thing, the good contest, these features
recur. There is an allusion to the unpopular nature of the message that Paul and Timothy
had to give; there is the same "turning away"; there is the same insistence upon