1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day;

4 Greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy;

5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelled first in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in you also.

6 Why I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.

7 For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

8 Be not you therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be you partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

9 Who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.

13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which you have heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

14 That good thing which was committed to you keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us.

15 This you know, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

16 The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain:

17 But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.

18 The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered to me at Ephesus, you know very well.

Stir Up the Gift Which Is in Thee

2Ti 1:1-11

Lonely and facing death the Apostle fell back on the bedrock of the will of God. If it were the divine plan that he should finish his life-work in that miserable plight, he was content that it should be so. But he longs to see his beloved son in the faith once more. He desires to stir up the dead coal of his ardor, in which there was fire and heat, but not enough flame.

Apparently the young evangelist was becoming daunted by the gathering difficulties of the time and so Paul sets himself to encourage him. With this purpose in view he adduces his own example, 2Ti 1:3, his fervent affection, 2Ti 1:4, the memory of the sainted dead, 2Ti 1:5, the solemn vows by which Timothy had bound himself at his ordination, 2Ti 1:6, the divine donation of grace and power and love, 2 Ti 1:8, the eternal purpose which had received its fruition in the advent of Jesus, 2Ti 1:9, the clear light which His resurrection had thrown on death and the hereafter, 2Ti 1:10. Surely such a chain of arguments must have proved irresistible! God's soldiers must be brave and unflinching in meeting the opposition of the world. When once we realize that the stores which reside in God are at the disposal of our faith, we, too, shall be invulnerable and irresistible.

Hold the Pattern of Sound Words

2Ti 1:12-18

How striking Paul's reference to the double committal, as if there had been an agreed exchange between his Master and himself! Paul had handed over to Christ as a sacred deposit all that concerned his well-being in time and eternity, and Christ had handed over to him the interests of His Kingdom, which, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he was required to maintain inviolate. It is a mutual exchange of which we all ought to know something. Give all to Christ and Christ becomes all to you. The proportion of your self-giving is the measure of your discovery of what Jesus will be to you.

Some of Paul's former friends shrank from identifying themselves with a suspect-the inmate of the condemned cell. It was no light matter to visit the bearer of a name which the world of that day detested, one who belonged to a sect accused of burning Rome. Demas, 2Ti 4:11, and others forsook him, but the good Ephesian, Onesiphorus, set about seeking him through all the prisons of Rome, and was not ashamed of his chain nor content with a single visit. He oft refreshed his friend. Paul sends a grateful message to his family, 2Ti 4:19. Perhaps there is here a gentle hint to Timothy. Compare 2 Ti 1:8 and 2 Ti 1:16. Never shrink from taking your place beside Christ's prisoners!