SERMON VIII. 2 TIMOTHY i. 5.-When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee; which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. LET us look up to God for his spiritual teaching, while I endeavour to set before you I. THE PECULIAR EXCELLENCE FOR WHICH TIMOTHY IS HERE COMMENDED: Unfeigned faith." 66 Many-even among those who regard religious excellence as that which alone deserves commendationmay think the language of St. Paul respecting Timothy to be somewhat strange. They would have spoken of his piety, or his zeal-his strict attention to duty-his admirable example as a young man. And I do not mean to say, that such statements would have been inconsistent with truth. Nevertheless, they would have fallen very far short of the description given in two words by the Apostle-which itself would not satisfy the persons of whom I speak. St. Paul goes to the root of all that was excellent in Timothy; namely, his FAITH.-Not but that he could at other times dwell with pleasure on the fruits of that faith; especially when speaking of him to others. A beautiful specimen we have in Phil. ii. 19–22. “ I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state: ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel." But in writing to Timothy himself, he thinks it most profitable to insist upon the source of that excellent character-his faith.-What then is Faith? The same Apostle explains; "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." “Without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”1 Timothy, then, habitually realized the fact, that there is a God; that he must be diligently sought; and that none can seek him in vain. Before he had heard the Christian doctrine, he had learned this from the Scriptures of the Old Testament. From the Apostle he learned that God must be sought "in Christ," and would in Christ only be found. It was at Lystra, probably, that he first heard this doctrine. He saw Paul stoned, and left as dead for preaching it; he saw him restored again, and as zealous as ever in the same cause. By the time that the Apostle had proceeded to Derbe, and returned again to the scene of his former persecution, Timothy was become a Christian. He now believed that Christ was his Saviour, "God over all, blessed for evermore." 3 Do you believe this? Yes,' you say; 'I also am a Christian. Like Timothy, I have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and I believe firmly all the articles of the Christian faith.'-Very good; but how shall we know that this is a true account of your character? St. Paul's description of Timothy shews that faith may be feigned, not real and genuine; and if this might be the case in those days of "fiery trial," how 2 2 Cor. v. 19. 3 Rom, ix. 5. 1 Heb. xi. 6. much more so now, when Christianity is the national religion; when, too often, infants are baptized almost as a matter of course; when it is disgraceful, not-to profess ourselves Christians, but to profess ourselves unbelievers !-See to it then, that your faith be like that of Timothy, "unfeigned faith." To ascertain what that is, see in the New Testament what real faith does. It "worketh by love; "1 it "purifieth the heart; " it "overcometh the world; " 3 it makes a man "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord; "4 it brings "Christ to dwell in the heart; "5 it makes its possessor speak for Christ, live for Christ, forsake all for Christ, yea even die for Christ. Now will your professed faith stand this test, and come up to this standard? If not, it is all a pretence, a fiction, a fancy: the devil and your own heart have imposed upon you the shadow for the substance. "Faith without" such "works is dead, being alone.” 6 "Make therefore the tree good, and the fruit" shall be "good; "7 seek possess faith unfeigned, like him whom St. Paul here so affectionately commends.-But observe now, to II. THE INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE TO WHICH THE FAITH OF TIMOTHY IS HERE ASCRIBED: namely, the previous faith of his pious mother Eunice, and of his grandmother Loïs. The only effectual cause to which unfeigned faith can be ascribed, is the grace of Christ, and his Spirit. To Him the Apostles prayed for faith, and he gave it them; and St. Paul expressly declares, that faith "is the gift of God."9 Nevertheless, in conferring this 1 Gal. v. 6. 7 Matt. xii. 33. 2 Acts xv. 9. 31 John v. 4. 6 James ii. 17. 9 Eph. ii. 8. precious gift, the Lord frequently works by instruments or means; and therefore I conceive that the faith of Lois and Eunice is here introduced as the instrumental cause, or the means employed by the Holy Spirit, for producing in Timothy his unfeigned faith.-The case of these excellent women, then, may lead us to observe the special honour conferred on the weaker sex, in their being often made 1. Foremost in faith and piety.-Man fell by the woman's transgression; but it is by the Seed of the woman that he is redeemed. This singular distinction, early revealed, appears to have been early valued and gloried in by the sex. Hence the Saviour is specially called by Daniel, "the Desire of women."-The same faith, which led the ancient mothers to hope that they might become parents of the Redeemer, was in various ways manifested by women, while men continued unbelievers. Women attended Jesus, and ministered to him of their substance; women found him a home near Jerusalem; women stood by his cross weeping— followed him to his grave-and were the first to witness his resurrection. The first convert in Europe was a woman-Lydia. In every period of the history of the Church, women have been more open to conviction, more simple believers in Christ, more devoted in their zeal for his cause, than others. Let them take encouragement then. Men may despise their weakness; and be their tyrants, when they should be their kind protectors. But let the woman come to Christ, and he will be her friend; he will give her grace, which he will withold from men who despise it; he will "choose the weak things of the world, to confound the things that are mighty."1_For it appears, further, that women are often made to be 11 Cor. i. 27. 2. Foremost in spiritual usefulness.-Such they were Loïs the grandmother had been in the case before us. an Israelite indeed;"1 one of those that "waited for the consolation of Israel; "2 one, like Anna, "looking for redemption in Jerusalem."3 Meanwhile, she has a daughter, Eunice, whom she labours to bring up in the same way of "faith unfeigned;" and God blesses the endeavour. In due time the daughter is married, and becomes a mother; her son Timothy, from his very childhood, is by her " trained up in the way he should go" 4-made acquainted with the Holy Scriptures.5 And what is the result? When grown older, he departs not from the right way. You might almost have said here, that religion ran in the blood' --had not Scripture expressly, informed us, that God's children are "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." 6 No-this remarkable succession of piety, in three generations of the same family, was a blessing from God, in honour of female faith-“unfeigned faith.” "Them that honour me," saith God, " I will honour."7 6 And you may still enjoy the same privilege, of being foremost in usefulness, O ye Mothers, grandmothers, and sisters in Christ!--On you it devolves in a peculiar manner to form the character of children. If you be worldly, light, idle, immodest, or despisers of the sabbath and the church, scarcely anything will be able to counteract the evil which you will thereby do to the souls of your families. If, on the other hand, you be humble, modest, pious, lovers of prayer, of the church, of God's own day-in a word, unfeigned believers - God will own and bless your example and instruction to the spiritual good of these little ones. 1 John i. 47. 2 Luke ii. 25. 3 Luke ii. 38. 6 John i. 13. 52 Tim. iii. 15. 4 Prov. xxii. 6. 7 1 Sam. ii. 30. |