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been appointed preacher, apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, and for which he suffered,
and the one outstanding fact that he brings forward there is that:
"Our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel" (II Tim. 1: 10).
The fact that Christ was of the seed of David can be looked at from more than one
angle. In the first place, whoever believes that fact, must believe that Christ was really
Man, that His body was really flesh and blood, and, from the standpoint of the kingdom
and its hope, it was vital to the fulfillment of prophecy and covenant. So far as the
dispensation of the mystery is concerned, the fact that Christ was of the seed of David,
proves that God was manifested in the flesh, but from the standpoint of Peter and his
ministry, the same fact not only demonstrated His manhood, but pointed to the realization
of the hope of Israel:
"David . . . . . being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ" (Acts 2: 29-31).
The basic epistle to the Romans makes it very clear that Christ was of the seed of
David, according to the flesh:
"The gospel of God . . . . . concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with
power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead" (Rom. 1: 1-4).
While Paul most surely believed that the Lord Jesus Christ was of the seed of David,
according to the flesh, he tells us in connection with his ministry of reconciliation:
"Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known
Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more" (II Cor. 5: 16).
If he would make full proof of his ministry, Timothy must therefore do the same.
Others may preach the gospel of the kingdom; others may stress the reality of the throne
of David. These ministers of the circumcision and the kingdom were right so to do. But
Timothy had been chosen to maintain that good deposit of truth which is found only in
the prison ministry of the apostle Paul. In the form of sound words which he had heard
of Paul, the throne of David is overshadowed by a higher and greater throne. A higher
throne, a vaster kingdom, a more spiritual realm, is associated with that seat "far above
all", and to this the Apostle would have Timothy devote himself; this he would have him
pass on to faithful men who should be able to teach others also; consequently, the
Apostle follows the two items that deal with the incarnation and the resurrection of Christ
with the qualifying words:
"According to my gospel; wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds"
(II Tim. 2: 8, 9).
Here we have the prisoner of the Lord, "even unto bonds". Desmos, "bonds", and
desmios, "prisoner", are poignant words in connection with the ministry of the mystery.