CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
2 Timothy 1:6. Stir up the gift.—As the soldier draws together the embers of his watch-fire, making the flame leap up, so St. Paul would have this good soldier of Jesus Christ attend to the charisma or gift within him. R.V. margin, “stir into flame.”
2 Timothy 1:7. Spirit of fear.—Or cowardice. Alford thinks there is a touch of severity in this word for “fear,” putting before Timothy his timidity in such a light as to shame him. If so, Timothy was not himself. A sound mind.—R.V. “discipline.” Margin, “Gr. sobering.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— 2 Timothy 1:6-7
The Responsibility of Divine Gifts.
I. Divine gifts are a moral equipment for the highest service.—
1. A spirit of fearlessness. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power” (2 Timothy 1:7). Not a spirit of cowardice, but of courage.
(1) This courage enables us to confront and vanquish the enmity and reproach of the world.
(2) To bear up under religious trials.
(3) Is a Divinely inspired courage.
2. A spirit of love (2 Timothy 1:7). The spirit of love is a necessary counterpoise to the spirit of power, and prevents it from degenerating into bravado and presumptuous daring.
(1) This love is disinterested.
(2) Universal.
(3) Inexhaustible.
3. The spirit of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). The spirit of self-discipline and self-government—
(1) Has a keen perception and sober discrimination of the truth.
(2) A love of the truth.
(3) Love in the acquisition of the truth.
(4) In the right use of the truth. What the ballast is to the balloon, the safety-valve to the steam-engine, the beam to the balance, the rudder to the ship, that the sound mind is to the Christian character.
II. The possession of Divine gifts involves responsibility for their use.—God bestows gifts not for display or adornment, but for use. Gifts unused will rust; it is only as they are exercised that they shine and illuminate ourselves and others. No man knows what he can do till he tries. God has left no man without a gift; there are latent possibilities in every man. The world is all the poorer to-day because of its unused talents. It is pitiable to see talent misdirected. Alexander the Great meeting with a man who, with much practice, could throw small peas through a needle’s eye without once missing, ordered him a present suitable to his employment—a basket of peas. We accomplish our mission in life by faithfully and diligently using God’s gifts.
III. We need to be stimulated to renewed zeal in the use of Divine gifts.—“Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee” (2 Timothy 1:6). Away from the magnetic influence of Paul, Timothy might be tempted to be remiss. The apostle recognises the existence of the gift—the gift of grace and faith—of which Timothy gave evidence at his ordination, and urges him to keep it in active exercise. The best of men need reminding of past blessings, and to exert the power they already possess. Keble said on one occasion, he wished he could attend an ordination service every year of his life, that he might be reminded of first principles. We can never make the best of ourselves, or benefit others, without vigorous effort.
Lessons.—
1. No one man possesses every gift.
2. God has left no man without a gift.
3. We should use the gifts we have so as to honour God.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2 Timothy 1:6. Our Gift and the Divine Claim.
I. There is the ethnic or rare gift.
II. There is the family, hereditary gift.
III. There is to each one a gift from God distinctly personal.
IV. We thus come to the Christian gift.—A general capacity for service; a gift composed of many gifts.—Raleigh.
2 Timothy 1:7. The Christian’s prevailing Spirit of Mind.
I. To what it stands opposed.—“A spirit of fear.” Not the natural passion of fear, or a sense of danger; not the reverential fear of God; but a prevailing disposition of terror and timidity, a slavish dread of God as judge, or of man as an adversary, such a shrinking of the soul as destroys all holy confidence towards our heavenly Father and deprives us of all resolution in doing what is right.
II. In what it consists.—
1. A spirit of power. It denotes such a powerful impression of Divine truth and heavenly blessings as inspires us with vigour and resolution of mind in all we are called to do, in order to form ourselves upon the precepts of the gospel and to maintain its influence in the world. It is a spirit of energy in all that concerns the work of God, in opposition to everything like indifference, unsteadfastness, unfruitfulness.
2. A spirit of love. The love of God—a devout adoration of His excellencies and a grateful sense of His benefits, powerfully constraining us to imitate those perfections we adore, and manifest towards others that love which we acknowledge.
3. The spirit of a sound mind. The same thing as wisdom, prudence, a sober judgment, accompanied by composure and self-command; good sense, exalted and enlightened by heavenly wisdom, a mind free from the perturbations of passion and the extravagance of folly, capable of judging soundly and acting with sobriety.
III. Its excellence and use in the Christian life.—A spirit “God hath given us.” All its principles are calculated to support each other and to form by their union a complete and consistent character. We see the spirit of power, without love, hardening into austerity, and, without soundness of mind, rushing into extravagance. We see the spirit of love, without power, sinking into a soft timidity, and, without soundness of mind, yielding the most sinful compliances. We see the spirit of a sound mind, without power, settling in sloth, and, without love, souring into selfishness. Without the spirit of power, all is feebleness; without the spirit of love, all is ferociousness; without the spirit of a sound mind, all is foolishness. The first is the acting hand, the second the feeling heart, the last the directing head.—J. Brewster.