A SERMO N. 2 TIM. ii. 24, 25. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves." THE Apostle dedicates this and the former epistle to Timothy, of whom in the bowels of Christ he seems remarkably fond. He styles him his own son in the faith; not only because he had begotten him in the bonds of the gospel, for in this sense he had many sons, but because there seemed so much of the spiritual image and heavenly likeness of the father about him: "I trust to send Timotheus; for I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state;" and because of his dutiful deportment and diligent attendance and readiness to assist his venerable father in the word and work of the Lord; "But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel;" Philip. ii. 22. Philip. ii. 22. And because there seemed so strong an affection in Timothy to his aged sire in the faith, with whom he could seldom part dry eyed, "I thank God," says Paul the aged, "whom I serve from my forefathers any divine treasure in them, vessels of dishonour: "If a man purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” Paul encourages his son to shew himself approved unto God, that men might see that he was one whom God approved, "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth;" describing the law and the gospel, the saint and the sinner; giving a portion to seven, and also to eight, Eccl. xi. 2; a portion to the church of God, and to the synagogue of Satan; feeding the family of heaven with milk and meat, and the hardened hypocrite with judgment, Ezek. xxxiv. 16. Thus much by way of introduction to my text. I shall now consider the words in order as they lay before me, which are introduced thus: "But foolish or unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient; in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves :" which, for method's sake, I will endeavour to do in the following manner. 1. Describe the servant of the Lord in contradistinction from those who call themselves so, or are by others falsely so called. 2. Shew you, first in the negative, and then in the positive, what is not, and what is meant by the word, strive, in the text; or describe lawful and unlawful strife. 3. Shew you his gentleness, and how all sorts of men will try it more or less. 4. Describe his aptness, or aptitude to teach, and the unaptness of pretenders to that work, with the reasons for it. 5. Treat of his patience, and describe those who are said to wear it out. 6. Define the spiritual meekness in my text, and wherein it differs from the candour of hypocrites. 7. And lastly, The persons with whom this meekness is to be used, namely, those that oppose themselves. First, I am to describe the Lord's servant in contradistinction from those who cail themselves so, or are by others falsely so called. All are not the Lord's servants who call him master; Judas called him so, and yet was a devil, and at last the devil his master entered into him, and let all men see whose servant he was; he was not without candour to himself, nor the appearance of good works; he reproved the Saviour, and poor Mary also, the first for permitting, and the latter for making waste of the funeral ointment; pretended great love to the poor, but he aimed at nothing but money, therefore the searcher of all hearts gratified him with bearing the bag, or keeping the common stock; which he did, not as the Lord's servant, to relieve the poor followers, and defray the travelling expenses of the Lord's retinue, but to act the part of a thief, make a private purse for himself, starve the family of God, and sell the master of the household for thirty pieces of silver, in order to get a stock in hand, independent of Providence, and to prevent the perilous adventure of going out to preach without purse or scrip. Secondly, They are not all the Lord's servants who call him by that name. Many will say unto him in the great day, Lord! Lord! who will never be admitted into the family. It is true, no man can call Jesus Lord, or his Lord, that is, with the testimony of a good conscience, but by the Holy Ghost: yet the root of all evil, the love of money, has led the devil's servants to call him so, while scripture and conscience have given them the lie to their face. Balaam said unto Balak's servant, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more." Yet his will and inclination led him to tempt the Almighty with a seven times sevenfold sacrifice; and it is well known, that he would have sold himself to the devil, and the heritage of heaven also, for an independence; or else, why did he so often go to seek for inchantments, if he did not approve of the devil's service, seek the devil's aid, and depend on his arm for wisdom, for support, and direction? It was with a shew of much candour for Balak and the incestuous offspring of Lot, that he was brought to acknowledge that God was not man, that he should lie as himself could, nor the son of man, that he should repent of blessing Israel, as |