James Nisbet Commentary - 2 Timothy 1:6 - 1:7

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James Nisbet Commentary - 2 Timothy 1:6 - 1:7


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

A SPIRIT OF COURAGE

‘Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee is the putting on of mg bands. For God bath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.’

2Ti_1:6-7

These words were addressed by Paul the aged to the youthful Timothy. They are part of a last message from the veteran soldier of the Cross to a recruit almost new to the field of battle. The tenderness of a father speaks in the opening sentence: ‘To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace.’ The fierceness of the fighter rings through my text: ‘God hath not given us the spirit of fear, of cowardice; but of power.’ To St. Paul, the man of God was no weakling, but a man strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. To him the minister of Christ by the laying on of hands—‘by the heavenly assistance of the Holy Ghost’—was endued in a marked degree with: (1) a spirit of courage; (2) a heart of love; (3) a mind sound and disciplined. Let us consider and earnestly covet these gifts.

I. A spirit of courage.—It is probable that Timothy was constitutionally timid, and that this spirit of timidity had led him to act in a cowardly manner on some special occasion known to the Apostle. We gather this from 2Ti_1:8 : ‘Be not thou ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me His prisoner.’ In the face of personal danger, or through fear of persecution, Timothy had not upheld the Apostle’s teaching, nor acknowledged his connection with Paul the prisoner. Such an act of poltroonery grieved the heroic spirit of the old soldier. Fidelity to Christ—to the truth of Christ—was more to him than life itself. And what about ourselves? Are we quite free from this spirit of timidity, of cowardly fear? Make no mistake—the attitude of the world towards true godliness has not changed. It still hates the Christ. It may manifest its hatred in a different way, but it is there and must be

God give us men. A time like this demands

Great hearts, strong minds, true faith, and willing hands;

Men whom the lust of office cannot buy;

Men who have honour, men who will not lie;

Men who for Christ will live, for Christ dare die.

II. With the spirit of courage the Apostle couples a heart of love.—It is a suggestive association in many ways. Love makes the noblest champions, for perfect love casteth out fear. He who loves most fears least. Yea! love is as strong as death. The world’s most enduring conquests have been conquests of love. Love never faileth.

III. To the spirit of courage and to the heart of love is added another mark of the true minister of Christ.—He must be a man of sound, of disciplined mind. If ever the clergy required a sound mind they require it in our day. We are sending forth from our schools boys and girls, youths and maidens, with just enough knowledge to make them think foolishly, talk dangerously, and often to act stupidly. They know a little political economy and they talk socialism, they know a little science and they talk atheism. We must not, however, take them too seriously. It is the penalty we have to pay in the upward march of intelligence. Our position is clear as clergy of the National Church. We are to guide and lead the thought of our day into right channels, into ways of soberness and truth. But if we are to do so effectively we must ourselves be level-headed men. Men with disciplined minds. Men with balanced intellects. Men who can bring to bear upon the questions agitating the minds of our people a prudent, practical, and discriminating judgment.

—
Archdeacon Madden.

Illustration

‘Think of the men in the past, the men who rebuked kings, withstood tyrants, and wrought righteousness in the earth. Think of Elijah before Ahab, of Daniel before Belshazzar, of John Baptist before Herod. Think of Ambrose at Milan, Savonarola at Florence, Luther at Worms. Think of our own brave Wycliffe; of that undaunted Apostle of Scotland, John Knox; yes, think of that Vicar of Doncaster who courteously but firmly refused to entertain princes and nobles, as a protest against the curse of betting at the Doncaster races.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE SPIRIT OF COWARDICE

The word ‘fear’ in this phrase means cowardice. ‘God hath not given us this spirit of fear.’ God has not given us this spirit of cowardice. Where then did the spirit of cowardice come from? It is one heritage of primitive human imperfection, slowly being conquered by Divine education, a relic of human depravity, a survival from a primitive condition, a barbarous condition. But God does not love His children to wander in a land of terrors. Step by step He educates them. Why are ye then fearful, O ye of little faith? There is therefore now no condemnation to us who are in Christ Jesus, and walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.

I. If there is one great difficulty of the Christian minister in leading many of his people into a right feeling towards God, so that their minds may have a Divine tone about them, it is another great difficulty to remove from the hearts of religious people that terror, that fear which oppresses so many of them.

II. To you who want to believe the truth, who cannot live without a deep, real faith irremovably fastened on the Rock of Ages—to such let me say, ‘Let no cowardly fear affront you from your inquiries.’ You want to know more about your Father and His ways—ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find.

III. And, lastly, there is that unworthy fear which keeps men from adopting and confessing a Christian life, especially of confessing it at the Lord’s Table.

—
Dean Page Roberts.

Illustration

‘I remember a story of Mr. Moody. When he was in the country on one occasion he saw a man with a group of boys round him. Presently the boys climbed on to the top of a high wall. Then the man standing at a little distance from them said, “Jump,” and as they jumped he caught them. But there was one little fellow who could not be induced to leap. Mr. Moody said to the stranger, “My friend, what are you doing with those boys?” “I am teaching them what faith is,” was the answer; “I am teaching them to trust me.” “But,” said Mr. Moody, “that little fellow there would not jump.” “No,” said the man, “he does not know me, he is not my boy.” ’