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Nero on the throne and persecution raging, this denial of the Lord was an ever-present
and dreadful possibility. The Apostle encouraged his son Timothy, and he encourages all
of us who follow, however feebly, to endure, by speaking of the "age-abiding glory".
Membership of the One Body is eternal, but the added glory (whether spoken of in
Matthew, the Gospel of the Kingdom, or in Hebrews, the Epistle of the heavenly phase of
the Kingdom, or in Romans, the Epistle of the grace of God to the Gentile as well as the
Jew, or in Philippians and II Timothy), is age-abiding. We see the same principle at
work in the book of the Revelation.
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne" (Rev. 3: 21).
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and
I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of
God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his
mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years" (Rev. 20: 4).
Here we perceive that every one that attains to the age-abiding glory of the Revelation
was not only saved, but endured. The throne and the glory are not the same as those of
II Tim. 2:, but the principle remains. We are not Apostles, but we all have a sphere of
influence, and our example may help or hinder fellow-believers from reaching that
age-abiding glory that was in the Apostle's mind, for which he endured, and concerning
which he not only taught but "warned" (Phil. 3: 17-21; Col. 1: 28). This last reference,
namely Col. 1: 28, is too good an illustration of the principle found in II Tim. 2: 11-13
to be passed over. In Col. 1: we have two presentations, parallel with the two positions
of II Tim. 2:
(1) The believer shall be presented holy, and unblameable and unreprovable, by
reason of the death of Christ. This is parallel with the statement, "If we died with Him,
we shall also live with Him".
(2) The believer may also be presented perfect, and this is connected with "warning
and teaching". Col. 2: is the great warning, "Beware", "Let no man beguile you of your
reward" (not your life, that is safe) (Col. 3: 3). This is parallel with the added glory of
reigning with Christ if the believer endures.
Coming back to the passages under review, we learn that "This is a faithful saying".
There are five such sayings in the pastoral epistles, and it is possible that they were
well-known as part of the method of teaching adopted in the early church, or part of the
service with which the believer would be familiar. They are,
(1)
"This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief (or first)" (I Tim. 1: 15).
(2)
"This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good
work" (I Tim. 3: 1).
(3)
"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation" (Namely the preceding
teaching concerning godliness and bodily exercise) (I Tim. 4: 9).
(4)
"It is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him"
(II Tim. 2: 11, 13).