 |  |
"enduring afflictions", and there is also the same strengthening by the Lord Himself
(II Tim. 4: 1-17).
It is therefore obvious that we shall best learn the lesson of the good soldier by taking
a wider view than that of the immediate context. We are not surprised to find that the
word aresko, "to please" (II Tim. 2: 4), occurs 14 times in Paul's epistles, and if the
significance of number goes for anything, it is even more interesting to note that 13 of the
references occur in the early epistles, and one only in the later, viz., II Tim. 2: 4, which
as it were "completes" the word of God (Col. 1: 25).
This guiding principle, "that he may please Him", is echoed in II Tim. 2: 15, "Study
to shoe thyself approved unto God". To forget or omit it is to fail, but to hold to it and
emphasize it is halfway toward success, for it rids one of the fear of man that bringeth a
snare.
The Apostle's own exhortation to Timothy as an immediate consequence of setting
forth the three figures of the solder, the athlete and the husbandman is, "Consider"
(II Tim. 2: 7); "Remember" (II Tim. 2: 8); and "Study" (II Tim. 2: 15). Of these three
II Tim. 2: 15 belongs to the central section of the epistle, and its consideration must be
deferred until that section has been analyzed. Let us note the two that belong to the
section before us:
"Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things"
(II Tim. 2: 7).
We have followed the R.V. here because the best texts read dosei (future), "he shall
give", instead of doe, as in the A.V. The word translated "consider" is noeo, which is
generally translated "understand". Again we have to record that this word occurs
14 times in the N.T.
The reader should observe that Timothy was called upon to use his "mind", noeo, and
told that the Lord would give him understanding, sunesis. There is an important lesson
here. The "mind", or nous, is the organ of mental perception.
"The nous takes cognizance of external objects, and denotes the reasoning faculty.
Its chief material organ is the brain, but all the senses serve it actively and passively.
Nous is the human side of God's spirit in man; as to its source, it is Spirit; as to its
action in man for intellectual purposes it is mind, i.e. the product of the spirit"
(Dr. E. W. Bullinger's Lexicon).
The nous in man has been impaired by the fall (Eph. 4: 17), but the believer in Christ
has experienced a renewing of its spirit (Eph. 4: 23).
Let us not hurry over this, for it is of great importance. There are so many who decry
"reason", as though "faith" could ever be irrational or believe anything that was not
"right", but if God has renewed the spirit of the mind, it is in order that the believer
should use it to His glory.