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Sketches from the Life of Paul
love of Christ was the omnipotent, undying motive which upheld
him in his conflicts with self and the power of Satan, in his struggles
with spiritual wickedness in high places, in his life-long labors, as he
pressed forward against the unfriendliness of the world and the burden
of his own infirmities.
What the church needs in these days of peril is an army of workers,
who, like Paul, have educated themselves for usefulness, who have
a deep experience in the things of God, and who are inspired with
earnestness and zeal in his service. Cultivated, refined, sanctified,
self-sacrificing men are needed; men who will not shun trial and
responsibility, but who will lift the burdens wherever they may find
them; men who are brave, who are true; men who have Christ formed
within them, and who, with lips touched with holy fire, “will preach
the word” amid the thousands who are preaching fables. For the want
of such workers, the cause of God, languishes, and fatal errors, like a
deadly poison, taint the morals and blight the hopes of a large part of
the human race.
As the faithful, toil-worn standard-bearers are offering up their
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lives for the truth’s sake, who will come forward to take their places?
Will our young men accept the holy trust at the hand of their fathers?
Are they now preparing to fill the vacancies made by the death of
the faithful? Will the apostle’s charge be heeded, the call to duty be
heard, amid the incitements to selfishness and ambition which allure
the youth?
Paul concludes his letter with various personal messages, and again
and again repeats the urgent request that Timothy use all diligence to
come to him soon, and if possible to come before winter. He describes
his loneliness from the desertion of some friends and the necessary
absence of others, and lest Timothy should still hesitate, fearing that the
church at Ephesus demanded his labors, he states that he has already
despatched Tychicus to fill the place of Timothy in his absence. And
then he adds the touching request, “The cloke that I left at Troas,
with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but
especially the parchments.” At his second arrest, Paul was seized and
hurried away so suddenly that he had no opportunity to gather up his
few “books and parchments,” or even to take with him his cloak. And
now winter was coming on, and he knew that he would suffer with cold
in his damp prison-cell. He had no money to buy another garment,