2 Timothy 2:3-7

CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

2 Timothy 2:3. Endure hardness.—R.V. “Suffer hardship with me.” Compare 2 Timothy 1:8, where the same word occurs. It would seem more consistent to refer the fellowship in each case to St. Paul, in behalf of the gospel.

2 Timothy 2:4. No man that warreth entangleth himself.—R.V. “No soldier on service.” The word for “entangleth himself” occurs again only 2 Peter 2:20. St. Paul had before him living illustrations of his saying. The Roman soldier carried his home on his back. Who hath chosen him to be a soldier.—R.V. “who enrolled him as a soldier.” This phrase is represented by one word in the original. It is the term for the general who collects an army.

2 Timothy 2:5. Strive for masteries.―R.V. “contend in the games.” In the best Attic Greek the word would mean to work, to endure. Lawfully.— 1 Timothy 1:8. Conformably to law. Not merely of the contest itself, but also of the preparation and training for it.

2 Timothy 2:6. The husbandman that laboureth.—The notion of “laboureth” is that of the weariness and lassitude which follow the straining of his powers to the utmost. The lesson seems to be “No sweat, no sweet.”

2 Timothy 2:7. Understanding.—Here means the power of putting things together. It is, as Bishop Lightfoot suggests, the critical application of wisdom to details.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 2 Timothy 2:3

Phases of the Christian Life.

I. The Christian life is a military service.—

1. The power of endurance is acquired by continuous drill. “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3). “Military service involves self-sacrifice, endurance, discipline, vigilance, obedience, ready co-operation with others, sympathy, enthusiasm, loyalty” (Plummer). Tertullian writes: “Even in peace soldiers learn betimes to suffer warfare by toil and discomforts, by marching in arms, running over the drill-ground, working at trench-making, constructing the tortoise, till the sweat runs again. In like manner do ye, O blessed ones, account whatever is hard in your lot as discipline of the powers of your mind and body. Ye are about to enter for the good fight, in which the living God gives the prizes, and the Holy Spirit prepares the combatants, and the crown is the eternal prize of an angel’s nature, citizenship in heaven, glory for ever and ever. Therefore your trainer Jesus Christ has seen good to separate you from a state of freedom for rougher treatment, that power may be made strong in you.”

2. The efficiency of service must not be impaired by being excessively engrossed with other occupations (2 Timothy 2:4). The soldier is wholly devoted to his profession, and his term of service is spent either in warfare or in preparation for it. He abandons all other occupations: they would interfere with his efficiency and with his prospects of promotion. So the Christian soldier, if he is to render good service, must not be entangled with worldly affairs: not that he can ignore them or neglect them; but he must guard against their interfering with the obedience he owes to His heavenly Commander.

II. The Christian life is an athletic contest.—

1. Victory is gained only by great effort. “And if a man also strive for masteries” (2 Timothy 2:5). Tertullian, continuing his address to martyrs, passes by an easy transition from training for military service to training for athletic contest. “For the athletes also are set apart for stricter discipline that they may have time to build up their strength. They are kept from luxury, from daintier meats, from too pleasant drink; they are driven, tormented, distressed. The harder their labours in training the greater their hopes of victory. Virtue is built up by hardness, but by softness is overthrown.”

2. Reward is given only to those who faithfully observe the rules of the contest. “Yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully” (2 Timothy 2:5). The athlete, though gaining the victory, is not crowned unless he has observed all the conditions of the contest, and the preparation for it as to self-denying diet, exercise, self-restraint, chastity, and decorum. So in the Christian course the prize is given to him who has obeyed all the rules. To share the glory of Christ we must share His suffering: if we shrink from the cross, we miss the crown.

III. The Christian life is moral husbandry.—

1. Implying diligent toil. “The husbandman that laboureth” (2 Timothy 2:6). The husbandman knows that according to the labour put into the soil will be its fruitfulness. Christianity not only inculcates work, but ennobles it. Work is necessary for sustenance, and is the condition of all growth. Mental and moral excellence are attained only by great labour.

2. The diligent worker is entitled to reward. “Must be first partaker of the fruits” (2 Timothy 2:6). The first to enjoy the results of work should be he who has been most diligent. “In all labour there is profit.” Work is the pathway to success and honour.

IV. The manifold phases of the Christian life require earnest thought.—“Consider what I say” (2 Timothy 2:7). Christianity must be studied in its many-sided aspects; and it will always be suggestive to regard it as a military service, an athletic contest, and as moral husbandry. But much as we reflect and ponder, it is the Lord only who can give us true understanding in all things. “Timothy is not the only Christian or the only minister who is in danger of being disgusted, disheartened, and dismayed by the coldness and apathy of professing friends, and by the hostility and contempt of secret or open enemies. We are at times inclined to murmur because the rest for which we so often yearn is not given us here—rest from toil, from temptation, from sin. Such a Sabbath rest is the prize in store for us; but we cannot have it here. And if we desire to have it hereafter, we must keep the rules of the arena—self-control, self-sacrifice, work” (Plummer).

Lessons.—

1. Religion is adapted to all conditions of life.

2. Obedience is the pathway of safety and success.

3. The highest prizes of religion are not secured without self-denying effort.

GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES

2 Timothy 2:3. The Military Discipline—

I. Requires the putting off or excision of the world as an interruptive and disqualifying power.

II. Raises spirit and high impulse by a training under authority exact and absolute.

III. We find in military discipline how to put a more genial look on our crosses and required self-denials.

IV. The military discipline has as little direct concern to beget happiness as it has to compel self-abnegation.

V. Whatever we get we must somehow fight for it.—Bushnell.