Timothy II - Expositional Study
THE GOSPEL GOLD-MIND
Scripture Reading: 2 Timothy 2:8-10 (KJV)
Introduction
What a gold-mine of truth and blessing these passages have: every sentence an ingot, every word a nugget, the whole immensely wealthy with the glittering commodity of the Gospel.
In verse 10 we discover that all is, "in Christ Jesus". Everything the Christian possesses is "in Him" – this is one of the outstanding emphases of the New Testament! Over and over again the phrase, "in Him", and, "in Christ", occur. This thought is prominent in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. The sum and substance of the letter is found in the words, "in Him", "in Christ", and "in the Lord." All a Christian needs is "in Him". "In Him", a Christian's need and His fullness meet. Imagine a bitterly cold evening, whereon a poor, hungry, ill-clad, shivering mortal is standing gazing into the dining room of a grand home. The table is laden with good things in abundance and the man realizes that with what is there and what is to come, all his appetite and need could be fully supplied; it is all in the house, stored up in there. Fairy stories may legitimately take unexpected turns; so, since the occupants of this house are kind people, and since they observe the necessitous man and his eager hungry looks, the butler goes to the door and invites him to come in. Now, see what a change is wrought in his circumstance and condition. All his needs are in the house. And, wonder of wonders, he also is in the house, his need and its great fullness meet. It is no fairy-tale, for "we have not followed cunningly devised fables" (2 Pet. 1:16), but plain unvarnished truth, that a like blessed propinquity exists for all Christians, seeing that supplies and suppliants are both alike, "in Him. "
From verse 8 we deduce that this is not only in Him but is He. The beautiful truth emerges that He not only gives the gold, but He is the Gold. Not only does He provide the Gospel, but He is the Gospel. Let us always remember this fact: The Lord has to do, not merely: with a thing, however grand; with an experience, however glorious; but, with a Person, infinitely wonderful and blessedly adequate. Notice how the Lord is presented in our present text:
His Person – "of the seed of David." It is His humanity that is here stressed, for He can only legitimately die for the sins of man if He is man, the only admissible "mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). On the other side He is God! But, here the emphasis is on the side of Him that was man. How truly human He always showed Himself to be with no pretense or make-belief. As other children, in the home naturally growing: mentally, physically, spiritually, and socially (Luke 2:52). As a carpenter in the workshop toiling like every other artisan in the village (Mark 6:3); facing the full force of the devil's temptation in the desert like each of us (Matt. 4:1; Heb. 4:15). On the road, feeling the pangs of hunger as any other man would if leaving home before breakfast (Matt. 21:18). So closely entering into the grief of His friends at the graveside that He weeps with them (John 11:35). Completely exhausted in the boat, He falls into so heavy a sleep that even the violent storm fails to rouse Him. Yes, His humanity is real; and in all the storms and stresses of our human life it is a refreshing, steadying, and stimulating habit to "remember Jesus Christ", as the R.V. translates the opening phrase of the eighth verse. But, notice that it is not only His humanity that is underlined here, but His Davidic descent. For primitive Christianity the descent from David was most important as the guarantee that He was the Messiah foretold in prophecy".
His Cross, "the dead", is also indicated. It was for that He came to take upon Himself our flesh. In the deep necessities of things, He had to die; but God cannot die. So, He became a man that He might have a body which could die – "a body hast Thou prepared for me" (Heb. 10:5); "Who His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree" (1 Pet. 2:24). But, was that death accepted at the Court of Heaven?
The answer is His resurrection – "was raised". It is important to remember that the New Testament does not teach that by the exercise of His own mighty power He raised Himself. Some hymns written by men say that, but the Bible never does. He could have done so, as He specifically states in John 10:18, for He still retained His Deity. But, He did not do so. Over and over again we read, "God raised Him". On the occasions when the Word says that He rose again, it is dealing with the fact that He did, not with the power by which he did. Could this be the reconciling explanation of the exception to the rule, which is found in John 2:19? In connection with the power thereof it is truer to say, not that He rose, but that He "was raised." A familiar illustration will make it plain. Suppose a man is imprisoned. Imagine that by his own strength and resourceful wit he breaks out. The crime remains unexpiated (not atoned for) and the law has dominion over him. He can be arrested, when found, and returned to his incarceration. On the other hand, think of him as having completed his term. The Warden instructs his guards to open the door of his cell and the gate of the prison, setting him free. He has made atonement. He has served his sentence. The law has no further hold on him, no more dominion over him. In all reverence, let us transfer the figure to the case of our Lord Jesus. If by His own power He had forced His way out of the tomb, we should not have known that the sentence of death was reckoned by God as having been fully and finally carried out. The Warden (Ps. 8:1, 9) sent His guard (angel), who "rolled back the stone from the door" (Matt. 28:2), and the Lord came forth, showing that the sentence was completely served, the debt fully paid, the law utterly satisfied. The Cross was the payment; the Resurrection was God's receipt. The Law now has no further claim, or hold, upon Him, or upon those who trust in Him and obey His commands. Why? Because a Christian is "in Him" and "death hath no more dominion over Him" (Rom. 6:9); therefore, "sin shall not have dominion over you" (Rom. 6:14). In these facts about the Lord, Timothy is to find ground for his own steadfastness, and adequate rejoinder to false teachers.
Paul speaks of "my gospel", as if, in some sense, he had acquired it for his own. At other times he stresses that it is "the gospel". Recollect his sublime intolerance of anything else being considered a gospel, in Galatians 1:6-9. Here it is, "my gospel". The spiritual gold acquired, not by his earnings, but by his Lord's legacy – made his own by obedient faith. This is for his enjoyment. Enormous blessings come by way of the Gospel. See it in the nation – the "good news" is brought to Africa, Europe, America, etc., and, in the course of time, there is a startling transformation.
And in the individual – what countless, measureless blessings attend the personal reception of the Gospel. The results that follow the acquisition of material wealth are but a pale illustration of what ensues from the possession of this spiritual gold. Consider a house, dilapidated, dirty, a disgrace to itself and those living within. One day, activities are observed and changes begin to appear. The garden takes shape; window-panes are mended and cleaned; woodwork is painted; curtains and decorations attract attention. What has happened? A family with additional money has moved in. The same is true when one believes and obeys the Gospel and the Holy Spirit dwells within. Unless something is radically wrong, one's whole character and conduct is completely transfigured. Acquiring such spiritual gold brings great enjoyment.
We should never forget that this spiritual gold is also meant for distribution to others. By using the word, "my", Paul would have us grasp that it is not only a Gospel for him to enjoy, but a Gospel for him to preach – a Gospel of such infinite and eternal worth to others who need it that he is ready to "suffer...even unto bonds", and to "endure all things" so that they might have it. A Christian's enrichment is for their enjoyment. Look at this in 1 Corinthians 1:5, "in every thing ye are enriched...in all utterance". Why "utterance" in such a context? Can we presume that the good news of the riches is to be uttered abroad? Even more clearly do we find it in 2 Corinthians 9:11, "being enriched in everything to all bountifulness" – His bounty to us prompting our bounty to others, that 'through us' they may thank God." Once again, this spiritual gold is not for ourselves only.
Sometimes people will keep money secretly stuffed in a stocking or locked up in a vault. But, there is no manner of restriction imposed upon the distribution of this spiritual gold. It would be a crime to hoard it up and not hand it out to those who need it so badly. "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost" (2 Cor. 4:3). So, we rejoice to know that it is free from all restraint. "The word of God is not bound", says verse 9 of our text. This phrase is another name for "my gospel", which, in the strictest sense is not Paul's word, but God's! In 1 Corinthians 2:1, Paul describes it as "the testimony of God". It is true to call it Paul's word, with all its human and personal qualities and characteristics. But, that is not the whole truth. The ultimate fact is that it was given to Paul by "revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:12), and was God's Word for sinful men. For the dissemination of that mighty Word, the brave apostle was now brought "even unto bonds", never again free to broadcast the soul-saving, life-changing, message as he so loved to do. He was now "bound", but "the Word of God was not bound."
It is true to say that age cannot bind it. In itself, it is both ancient and modern – immensely old, yet extraordinarily up-to-date. Age does not tie it to an arm-chair, nor condemn it to a somnolent impassivity. The Word of God is as vigorous as it ever was. Over 1900 years have run their course since Paul sent these words to his son, but the Word of God has not lost one iota of its virility. Its message is valid for both old and young; those with life behind them and those with life before them. All find in it their way: to God, with God, and for God. No wonder Paul elsewhere exclaims, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is...", in spite of its age, "... the power of God unto salvation to everyone...", of whatever age, "...that believeth..." (Rom. 1:16).
Language cannot bind it. The various Versions of the Bible we have today, such as the American Standard, NIV, King James and others, are so throbbing with life, so instinct with power, that we sometimes forget we are reading only a translation, and not a flawless translation; whether the Word as a whole or the Word of the Gospel in particular, it retains the original power of the original tongue. The Hebrew, the Aramaic, the Greek, these were the vehicles of inspiration. But, the many languages into which it has been translated possess the same power of: conviction, conversion, compulsion, and comfort.
Persecution cannot bind it. The devil has tried to stamp it out. Even in America he continues trying to make it a forbidden book, starting in our schools. On occasion in some locations, he has engineered great bonfires for its burning, but it broke forth again in due time. The Word of God is like a seed dropped into soft earth near a roadway. The local authority decides to pave the road, and soon a great, heavy stone has been laid and hammered down upon the little seed, to its utter destruction. But, is it destroyed? In time, the very paving is moved by the life-power that was in the seed.
Deficiency cannot bind it. The great power has evidenced itself even upon those who might scarcely have been expected to understand it. There is no profounder book in circulation, and there are parts of it likely to baffle the keenest minds; yet, many uneducated folks have come to a wonderful grasp of its truths and secrets. It is true that God's things, "are spiritually discerned" (1 Cor. 2:14); not by natural intellect, but, "by faith we understand" (Heb. 11:3). So, it is apparent that the Gospel cannot be chained. The servant may suffer "unto bonds", but, the Word of God is "not bound"!
Paul speaks to Timothy about "the elect's sake" – those who are the beneficiaries of God's choice. How amazing it is that, by His sovereign will, He should elect to save sinners. He did not wait until we were able to improve ourselves, but "when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly...while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us...when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:6, 8, 10). Feeble, sinners, enemies: what a crescendo of disability, yet, He brushed aside all the disqualifications, and by the exercise of His Divine Royal Prerogative, He elected us. Us? Yes: if we are the kind of believers who trust His Word and try to obey it. This is a sure token that we are among His elect. Do not forget that we are "chosen in Him" (Eph. 1:4). If we have chosen to obey the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we may be sure that it happened because, first and foremost, He chose us. Listen to Him, in John 15:16, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you..." What absolute assurance of salvation this should give a Christian, since it depends, not on initial merit, or subsequent work, but on His almighty grace and sovereign will.
Sinners, then, as yet not brought in are Paul's deep concern, "That they may...obtain the salvation." It is there for all sinners. But, we must come and get it. We have the fact of the Gospel, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief" (1 Tim. 1:15). They who are the holiest are the most conscious of their sinfulness. Those of us who are far off can scarcely grasp that. His coming to die, coming to save: there lies the Gospel for sinners. We get the proclamation of Gospel – Paul, with Timothy and others (you and I also), seeking to let sinners know the good fortune awaiting them, if only they will come and "obtain" it by trusting and obeying. Consider the spiritual gold, this fortune of gold from the Gospel. God has made it, and bequeathed it to trusting and obedient sinners. His servants are then to advertise it, so other sinners may learn of their good fortune. Then, sinners can come and by their exercise of faith and obedience to the Lord, they can "obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus."
Remember Charles Kingsley's, 'Westward Ho!'? What mighty efforts Amyas Leigh and his company made: what terrible sufferings they endured, what losses they sustained, in searching South America for the mythical Monoa and its glittering gold. Disappointed, disillusioned, John Brimblecombe lamented, "I think the gold of Manoa is like the gold which lies where the rainbow touches the ground – always a field beyond you". The gold of the Gospel is not like that. It is not mythical, but real. It is not gained by effort, suffering, and loss, but by the simple appropriation of faith and obedience to God's Word. It is not beyond any of us, but it's beside us, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What good news for all sinners; what amazing fortune.
Our text closes "with eternal glory" – the gold is authentic currency in Heaven. God's spiritual gold has given sinners much on earth. The supernal gold has, by enrichment, altered our whole condition. Now, at last, it brings us unchallenged into glory. Unchallenged, for His gold is as an "open sesame" at the gates of Heaven. It is true coinage here on earth and is recognized and accepted hereafter. We cannot get through the Heavenly Gates without paying, yet, personally, we have nothing to offer. Our merit, our deeds will not suffice. We should be thankful that the Lord Jesus Christ has, with His precious blood, with the Gospel Gold, paid for our admission. Happy are those of us who, in the sense of Revelation 22:14, "enter in through the gates." Our entrance was procured by Gospel Gold, given to us by God, so we can call it, "my" (v. 8) – admitted not to a day of glory, but to "eternal glory".
Conclusion
A good description of the marvelous chapters of Romans 1-8 might be, "From Guilt, Through Grace, To Glory". Such is the journey financed by Heaven's Gold, and such is the journey's end. What a Gold-mine! This "word fitly spoken is like apples of gold" (Prov. 25:11).
