BY THE LATE REV. ALEXANDER MACLEOD OF UIG, LEWIS, AND ROGART, SUTHERLANDSHIRE.
(Taken from his own manuscript and hitherto unpublished.)
THE subject of this and the subsequent Epistle was born at Lystra, which was a city of Lycæonia. Of his father we are merely informed that he was a Gentile, who had married a Jewish female whose name was Eunice. Timothy was instructed in the oracles of God from his earliest years and brought to a saving acquaintance with the truth by the preaching of Paul on his first visit to Derbe and Lystra, at which time Timothy was only a very young man. When the apostle returned to visit the brethren in these cities at the distance of a very few years, they gave him such a favourable report of the piety of Timothy that Paul determined to take him for his companion in preaching the gospel among the Gentiles, and to cut off all occasion of complaint on the part of the Jews who did not see that the ceremonial law was virtually abolished by the death of Christ, Timothy was circumcised. From this time he accompanied the apostle for several years, assisting him in his apostolic office, until, as is generally understood, he took the pastoral care of the Church at Ephesus. Timothy evidently enjoyed a large share of Paul’s affection, who always speaks of him in language denoting the very high estimation in which he held him, and the tenderest solicitude for his welfare. This Epistle is thought to have been written by Paul in the year 58 A.D. Its original design was to give instructions to Timothy concerning the management of the Church of Ephesus, and it was probably intended that this Epistle should be read publicly to the Ephesians, that they might know upon what authority Timothy acted. The Epistle goes on, fraught with every necessary and salutary admonition, which is applicable to every Christian minister in every period of the Church, and which is calculated to cherish and promote that circumspection, faithfulness, and usefulness, which are implied in the exhortations of the text. “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt save thyself and them that hear thee.” In enlarging from these words, I shall consider,
I.—The exhortations of the text; and
II.—The promises by which they are enforced.
I.—The exhortations.
i. “Take heed unto thyself.”
Notice six particulars:—
(1) Take heed that you be a sound believer, that you have been convinced and converted, and that you are making progress in the divine life.
(2) Take heed that you be a called and sent minister to witness the things you have seen and felt. If the Lord does not send ministers they shall not profit the people. The profitable minister is he who can say, “Lord, thou hast sent me; therefore go with me; bless me and make me successful.”
(3) Take heed you be an exercised minister—not satisfied with systematic and orthodox views merely, but coming forth in the fulness of the blessings of the gospel of Christ, speaking from the heart to the heart, and bringing out of the treasure “things new and old.”
(4) See that there be conscientious diligence in all the means for attaining fitness for this great work. “Till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.”
(5) See that you will have the glory of God and the salvation of souls in view.
(6) See that you watch in all things; be on your guard against every temptation, every external and internal enemy, that your conversation be such as becometh the gospel, and that you walk with circumspection worthy of the vocation by which you are called. Being surrounded with more temptations than other men in general, the minister should learn to bear injuries with patience and be ready to do good to every one; to be affable without levity and humble without pusillanimity, conciliating the affections without violating the truth, connecting a suavity of manners with a dignity of character, obliging without flattery, and throwing off all reserve without running into the opposite extreme of volubility and trifling. “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.”
Be watchful in the improvement of time, losing no time in indolence or unnecessary sleep, formal visits, or perusing useless books. Every day should have its work in Christ’s vineyard.
As the Christian religion pre-eminently regards the welfare of our immortal souls, as its object is to promote the honour of God and the salvation of men, how incumbent it is upon the ministers of this holy religion to feel its grandeur and importance, to imbibe its true spirit and genius, to “magnify” their ministerial office, and to display the beauty and glory of it before a dark and fallen world! To them are committed the word of life, the mysteries of godliness, the riches of divine grace, for it is through this consecrated medium that these great and inestimable blessings are chiefly communicated. Hence they are called in the language of inspiration, the light of the world, the salt of the earth. If the light then be eclipsed, darkness covers the land; if the salt lose its savour, the earth becomes putrid and corrupt. Being, therefore, the appointed and instrumental causes of diffusing this knowledge of Christianity, and its character and reception in the world being closely connected with their fidelity and zeal, how ardently they ought to seek a conformity of spirit, a perfect congeniality of soul to this sacred and momentous office with which they are invested! To produce a capacity of enjoyment, there must be a congruity between the mind and the object, so that religion, when rendered congenial to the mind inspires also confidence and delight, and renders the service of God a service of perfect freedom and happiness. The heart, attuned to a just and elevated sense of divine objects, assists the operations of the understanding. Its feelings imperceptibly mingle with the light of the mind, and by their reciprocal influence, the fire kindles within, the thoughts begin to sparkle, and the expressions to flow. This is to become “burning” as well as “shining” lights.
There is also a force and an authority with the truth, when it is delivered with gospel sincerity and simplicity and accompanied with genuine holiness. Such characters are living sermons, read and understood of all men. Discourses about virtue are pictures only. A virtuous example is a virtue embodied, animated, and exhibited to public view. Well may saints be represented with a glory around their heads, seeing the work of sanctification assimilates them more and more to the divine image, and enables them to have a life and conversation becoming the gospel of Christ. This holy fervour of spirit and hallowed flame of devotion, which all the ministers of Christ most anxiously desire to cherish in every duty and trial, arises from a spiritual knowledge of the glory of God shining in the person of Jesus Christ, and is a very different thing from that species of knowledge which defends only the outworks of Christianity, illustrates its nature and importance, and admires it only as a beautiful and perfect system. Knowledge is one thing; grace is another. Hence some men are able advocates for “the faith once delivered to the saints,” zealous champions for the truth as it is in Jesus, standing forth in the trenches, repelling by cogent arguments the bold attacks of infidelity, and yet, at the same time, strangers to the interior and vital parts of the Christian religion, to that inward sanctification of mind, to that spirit of genuine piety and devotion with which the ministerial success of a pastor, and the salvation of his own soul are inseparably connected. Though the intellect of fallen man still retains many vestiges of its primitive grandeur and capacity, though it be still competent to the investigation of the most abstruse sciences, and even to the acquisition of sound and orthodox notions in the great science of theology, yet it has no such perception of divine truths as admits them into the mind under a just view of their spiritual nature, moral beauty, and transcendent importance. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” His conceptions on these subjects are so feeble, so indistinct, and so inadequate that he himself comes not under their influence. To all practical purposes the light he has is little better than darkness, and if the light that is in him be darkness, how great is that darkness! It is, moreover, to be observed, that not only considerable theological learning may be acquired, and much sacred criticism displayed, but also the most splendid gifts may be bestowed for the general edification of the Church, independently of divine grace. But when genuine piety is not the basis of these qualifications and gifts, they swell and inflate the mind, and usually exhibit a light which dazzles more than it illuminates, leading to self-exaltation more than to the glory of God. Whereas it is the character of grace to humble the sinner, to exalt the Saviour and to promote holiness, all which are characteristics of true ministers of Christ; and the influences and operations of the Spirit upon their souls for these glorious ends are of a much higher order than those extraordinary gifts or even that miraculous information of the understanding, which were conferred in the days of the apostles. The latter were designed for particular purposes and ceased with the reasons which occasioned them, whilst the former are essential to the salvation of men, and to that holiness, without which, we must be eternally lost.
Let, then, holiness to the Lord be inscribed in deep and legible characters on the heart of the Christian minister. Let an ardent love to God and man inspire him with the most active benevolence. Let the love of Christ constrain him to consecrate all his gifts and talents to the glory of God and the benefit of his fellow-creatures. It is under the daily tuition of the Holy Spirit of grace and supplication that he can be thus animated and supported, in order to abound in every good word and work, to make full proof of his ministry, and to act the character of a faithful steward of the manifold grace of God,—of a careful and tender shepherd, of a vigilant watchman, and an indefatigible labourer in Christ’s vineyard. It is the Spirit that will enable him to ask aright, and to perform aright, that can stimulate him to care, to vigilance and exertion—to foil temptations, to discipline the inward man, to regulate the heart, to mark the secret recesses and operations of sin, to pursue it in all its multiplied forms and branches, to guard against its insidious or more daring encroachments, and to attain, not only deliverance from its dominion, but also the lively and habitual exercise of these Christian graces that constitute the beauty of holiness, and to which the Lord has annexed His promises and blessings. It is the Spirit that will enable him to wrestle at a throne of grace for a blessing to himself and to his people, that will keep him often in prayer, secret meditation and communion with his own heart, that will teach him savingly in all truths, and bring them seasonably to his recollection, that will render him well versed in all the sacred writings, and that will capacitate him to use the sword of the Spirit successfully as a skilful master in Israel, with Gideon’s motto, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon,” and to repel all the fiery darts of the wicked one, with a holy dependence on that final victory and triumph which the Lord has promised to all His faithful witnesses.
Under the teaching of this Spirit, he will “give heed to the doctrine;” he will be enabled to declare “the whole counsel of God” and to “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.” He will not be carried about by every wind of doctrine, nor teach every kind of doctrine to his people. The ballast of grace and spiritual understanding will enable him to weather out the wintry storms to which he will be exposed from the world, the devil and the flesh, from external and internal enemies in the dangerous voyage of human life. Dangers and difficulties, opposition and contempt, he must calculate upon and expect. The very nature of his ministerial functions implies the former, and all the grandeur and dignity of it will not exempt him from the latter. “The truth itself” will offend. He will be regarded as an enemy by some for no other reason but because he tells the truth. The truth condemns the lax conduct of the unconverted, and their unscriptural creed founded on that conduct. To live in the consciences of such men as a witness against them is all that is desirable as long as they are at enmity with God. By consistency, however, you will command their esteem, for many often deny what they cannot disbelieve, and ridicule what they cannot but silently revere.
Whatever opposition therefore he may meet with from the supine indifference of some, or the intemperate zeal of others; whatever misrepresentations may, with secret but malignant industry, be circulated with a view to cloud his character or depreciate his ministry and usefulness; and however such vague and idle reports may be received, with a kind of inward complacency, by those who affect even candour and Christian charity, and from whom better things might be expected—let none of these things, however, move the Christian minister. Let not the storms of various opinions move him. Let not the applause or flattery or contempt of any person or persons whatever move him off the gospel ground on which it is his privilege to stand, and which he is commanded never to abandon, as he would wish his own salvation and that of his hearers. Neither let fastidious delicacy, which is often more shocked at a breach of the artificial forms of politeness than of the sacred duties of Christian morality, deter you from making full proof of your ministry, of approving yourself to God, as a workman that needeth not to be ashamed; recalling ever to mind Paul’s declaration to Timothy—a declaration of universal application—that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Let all his trials for righteousness’ sake remind him of the dignity of his character, and of his resemblance to his Lord and Master, that the disciple is not above his Master and the servant above his Lord. “It is enough for the disciple to be as his master, and the servant as his lord.”
If our own hearts be deeply affected with the important truths we deliver to others, we shall then walk with circumspection worthy of the vocation by which we are called. Let, therefore, a solemn sense of the terrors of the Lord, of the bitterness of sin, of the vanity and precariousness of all sublunary enjoyments, of the importance of eternity and the responsibility of our office, stimulate us to carry the momentous truths of the everlasting gospel with energy and life to the hearts of our hearers. For if our souls are not kept in the lively exercise of grace, our rounds of religious duties will unavoidably be cold, and our most sacred ministrations will be deplorably blasted. Let us always bear about us the dying of the Lord Jesus, and uniformly take heed that we are delegated ambassadors of Christ, to transact matters of everlasting importance between an infinite God and immortal souls. And if the honour of such a glorious embassy be so ineffably great, what inexpressible need have they of taking heed to themselves in all things, in the exercise of self-denial, ardent love to God, disinterested regard for His honour, and compassion for souls! What prudence, faithfulness, diligence, humility, holy zeal, spirituality of mind and conversation; what order and plainness and fervour; what just temperature of mildness and severity, are necessary as needs be! What heed for fear we may get careless and lukewarm in the Lord’s vineyard about His glory and the salvation of souls, for fear that we may be deserted of God, and that pride and sinister motives may bear sway!
- Take heed that “the doctrine” be not your own, nor that of others, but “Christ and him crucified”—Christ in all His offices—justification by faith—the law of God as a rule of life—the covenant of grace, with all its benefits. No Arminian or Antinomian doctrines.
Let a man speak as the oracles of God. Let thy doctrine be accompanied with much humility and self-denial, so as to have God’s glory and the salvation of sinners in view. Let it not be mixed with vain philosophy, so as to be delivered from seeking yourself and the applause of men in the excellency of speech. It is found that the holiest ministers preach most plainly, and that the plainest ministers are most successful. Let it be grave and weighty, sound speech that cannot be condemned, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience. The power of the truth upon our own hearts will greatly advance this.
Paul preached with a demonstration that the Holy Spirit was in him, sanctifying him. He preached so as to give a demonstration that the Spirit was with him. He was out of weakness made strong. The grace of our Lord was made sufficient for him. The Lord renewed his strength; he received out of the fulness in Christ, and grace for grace. He preached by the Spirit to the heart of the hearers, with the demonstration of the Spirit and with power, from the heart to the heart, from faith to faith, and from experience to experience.
- “Continue in them.” Continue (1) in thy views; (2) in thy calling; (3) be laborious and diligent. Continue in thy principles and work; you must not abandon either while on earth. “Woe is me if I preach not the gospel!” Continue to seek after greater fitness for thy work, in prayer, reading, and meditations.
II.—The great promises and encouragements by which these exhortations are enforced.
- “Thou shalt save thyself.” Your continuing and persevering in the ways of the Lord will tend to promote the salvation of your soul daily. “This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our consciences.”
“Thou shalt save thyself” from the guilt of other men’s sins and ruin, if thou be faithful in the ministry. “Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked, and that he has not turned, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”—(Ezek. xxxiii. 9.) “I am clean,” said the apostle, “your blood be upon your own head.” “I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God.”
- Thou shalt save “them that hear thee.” It is in the proportion in which a minister of Christ is taught to promote his own salvation, that he promises usefulness in the Church as a means of saving others—of opening their eyes to turn them from darkness to light. He is to preach in season and out of season for this end, and they are to hear. God’s glory and the salvation of sinners are the great ends of preaching, and the Lord promised His countenance to His ministers, even to the end of the world, for convincing and converting sinners, and for building them up in their most holy faith.