He foretelleth that in the latter times there shall be a departure from the faith. And to the end that Timothy might not fail in doing his duty, he furnisheth him with divers precepts belonging thereto.
Anno Domini 58.
BY calling the Christian church, in the end of the preceding chapter, the pillar and support of the truth, the apostle teaches us, that one of the important purposes for which that great spiritual building was reared, was to preserve the knowledge and practice of true religion in the world. Nevertheless, knowing that in after-times, great corruptions, both in doctrine and practice, would at length take place in the church itself, and that the general reception of these corruptions by professed Christians would be urged as a proof of their being the truths and precepts of God, on pretence that the church is the pillar and support of the truth, the apostle, to strip these corruptions of any credit which they might derive from their being received by the multitude, and maintained by persons of the greatest note in the church, judged it necessary, in this fourth chapter, to foretel the introduction of these corruptions, under the idea of an apostacy from the faith, and to stigmatize the authors thereof, as lying hypocrites, whose consciences were seared. And to give his prediction the greater authority, he informed Timothy, that the Spirit spake it to him with an audible voice, or in the most clear and intelligible manner; and mentioned in particular, that these lying teachers would corrupt the gospel by enjoining the worship of angels and of departed saints, 1 Timothy 4:1-2.—and by forbidding certain classes of men to marry, on pretence that thereby they made themselves more holy; and by commanding some at all times, and all at some times, to abstain from meats which God hath created to be used with thanksgiving, by them who know and believe the truth; 1 Timothy 4:3.—because every kind of meat is good, and nothing is to be cast away as unclean, which God hath made for food, provided it be received with thanksgiving, 1 Timothy 4:4.—For it is sanctified, that is, made fit for every man's use, by the word and permission of God, and by prayer, 1 Timothy 4:5.—These things the apostle ordered Timothy to lay before the brethren in Ephesus, because the foreknowledge of them was given to him, and by him discovered to Timothy, for this very purpose, that he might warn the faithful to oppose every appearance and beginning of error, 1 Timothy 4:6.—And because the Jewish fables, termed by the apostle old wives' fables, and the superstitious practices built thereon, had a natural tendency to produce the errors and corruptions which he foretold were to arise in the church, he ordered Timothy to reject them with abhorrence, 1 Timothy 4:7.—especially as rites pertaining to the body are of no avail in the sight of God, and of very little use in promoting either piety or love; whereas a pious and holy life is infinitely profitable, 1 Timothy 4:8.—Withal, that these things might make the deeper impression on Timothy's mind, the apostle solemnly protested to him, that in affirming them, he spake most important truths, 1 Timothy 4:9.—As indeed he had shewed by the heavy reproaches and other evils which he had suffered for preaching that he trusted, for salvation, neither to the rites of the law of Moses, nor to the mortifications prescribed by the Pythagorean philosophy, nor to the favour of any idol, but to the favour of the living God alone, who is the Saviour of all men, but especially of believers, 1 Timothy 4:10.—The same doctrine he ordered Timothy to inculcate on the Ephesian brethren, 1 Timothy 4:11.—and to behave in such a manner that it should not be in the power of any person, whether he were a teacher, or one of the people, to despise him on account of his youth, 1 Timothy 4:12.—Then, because the Jews and Judaizing teachers, founded their errors on misinterpretations of the Jewish scriptures, he ordered Timothy particularly to read these inspired writings, as well as all the others, frequently to the people in theirpublic assemblies, and likewise in private for his own instruction; and, on the true meaning of thesescriptures, to found all his doctrines and exhortations, 1 Timothy 4:13.—In the mean time, that he might attain the true knowledge of these oracles of God,he ordered him to exercise the spiritual gift which he possessed; probably the inspiration called the word of knowledge, which had been imparted to him by the imposition of the apostle's hands, when, in conjunction with the eldership of Lystra, he ordained him an evangelist, 1 Timothy 4:14.—Farther, he desired Timothy to meditate much on all the sacred scriptures, and to be wholly employed in studying them, and in explaining them to the people, 1 Timothy 4:15.—Finally, he commanded him to take heed to his own behaviour, and to his doctrine, from this most powerful of all considerations, that, by so doing, he would both save himself, and those who heard him, 1 Timothy 4:16.