1 Timothy 2:2 - Homilies By W.m. Statham

Nothing in the gospel was revolutionary. Its aim was not to upset thrones, but to purify all the centers of power; not to make assault at once on polygamy and slavery, but to undermine them by the Christian spirit and sacrifice. Prayer is here made for kings and all in authority. Rulership there must be. Anarchy is misery. Fields must be ploughed; grain must be stored; homes must be protected; or else weakness becomes the prey of strength. The purpose, then, of God, in ordination of law and government, is that we may enjoy a quiet life. To some a quiet life is the least desirable thing; but it is the life of nature, and it is the most blessed life. How quietly the flowers blow, the stars shine, the dew descends, the birds wing their flight, the light falls!

1. " A quiet life ;" for if there be disorder , all life is at a standstill . Even great artists like Gerome, during the last French Revolution, had to bury their pictures, for the time, beneath the earth.

2. "Quiet;" for, think of ' the forces around us . We need good government to preserve us from the violent, the lewd, and the criminal. The sea of human passion is always ready to break its barriers; the volcano would soon burst through the crust.

3. "Quiet;" for , this is the great enjoyment of life . Our happiest hours have been quiet ones—at home; by the river or the sea; in the valleys and in the forests; and in the Church of God. "That we may lead," which implies continuance .; life without trepidation; absence of the disorders which check industry, prudence, and. enterprise.—W.M.S.

1 Timothy 2:2 .—"A peaceable life."

Christ said, "Peace I leave with you," and he intended this to be the element in which nations and families and individuals should live. Through faith in him, we have peace with God, peace with our brother, and peace in ourselves. The world delights in noise and tumult; fills its forums with fierce discussions and debates; hangs the pictures of Wouvermans, with their fierce battle-fields, on its walls. Some people are said to delight in strife—to be what is called "law-thirsty;" and in quiet villages, even, you meet with antagonisms that are fierce and frequent.

1. "Peaceable; " for the gospel is to overcome evil with good . To triumph, not by carnal weapons, but those that are mighty through God, and which have the secret majesty of their power in the cross.

2. "Peaceable;" for passion retest be governed by conscience and Christ . Unquestionably the microscope shows us insects at war in the globule of water; and the beasts of the forest meet in deadliest conflict. But man is to triumph over himself; reason is to be lord over passion, and Christ is to be Lord over all.

3. "Peaceable; " for a home without this is misery . Where jarring and disputation are, there the atmosphere is destructive of all holy, happy life.

4. "Peaceable; " for this is the end of law . Forms of government are not all in all. Greece and Rome alike fell under the same form of government under which they rose.

5. "Peaceable; " for the Prince of Peace is to reign . He came to fulfill the angels' song, "Peace on earth, and good will to man;" and one day, by his cross, he will draw all hearts unto himself—W.M.S.

1 Timothy 2:2 . — Moral loveliness.

"In all godliness and honesty." It may be said that "godliness" includes "honesty;" but we must not be the slaves of pedantry in words; it is good sometimes to emphasize.

I. GODLINESS IS ESSENTIAL TO THE ORDER OF THE STATE . Rousseau remarks, "A country cannot well subsist without liberty, nor liberty without virtue." Peaceable lives must be godly lives. The safety of a nation is not "lions chained," but "lions turned to lambs." Modern sociology thinks it can do without godliness. It has invented some philosophy of morals of its own; some ideal of utility called "the greatest good of the greatest number." Philosophers may understand it, but common people cannot. So much depends on what is meant by "the greatest good." For if you exclude the soul, the greatest good is only a secular paradise, and that is death to all the heroism which can deny itself earthly pleasure for the sake of high spiritual ends. By "godliness "we understand God-likeness in men. Some talk of seraphic holiness; we prefer the old word "godliness." Let a seraph be a seraph; we want to be men. It is not wise for children to sing, "I want to be an angel;" they should want to be good children. We want godliness; purity like God's; pity like God's; fidelity like God's; holiness like God's. "Be ye holy, for I am holy."

II. HONESTY IS ESSENTIAL TO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN LIFE . No fine ideas of spirituality that set at naught common morality must find honor amongst us. While our hearts are in heaven, our feet are upon the earth.

1. We must be honest to our convictions; act out what we think; dare to be true to ourselves.

2. We must be honest in word; dealing in good coin; not pretending to be what we are not. Better honest silver than counterfeit gold.

3. We are to be honest in deed. Whether we build, or buy, or sell, whether we paint with the artist, or mingle in the marts of commerce, we are to see to it that the stamp of honesty is on all we do. For all this we are to pray; for there is a great sky over us all, and a great Father in heaven, and a great Savior in whose Name we may pray. So life will be peaceful and holy; based upon the granite rock, but bathed in the delicate haze of the firmament of heaven; solidity clothed with beauty; and he to whom we pray heareth us always.—W.M.S.

1 Timothy 2:6 .—The self-giving of Christ.

"Who gave himself a Ransom for all, to be testified in due time." We are indebted to the slavery of St. Paul's time for the use of the word "ransom." So literature, in its words, enshrines history. We cannot make a perfect theory of the Atonement. Many have tried. Some have taken the idea of slavery; some have taken the idea of debt. There has been the " commercial " theory, and the "legal" theory; but no theory is complete that does not contain all the ideas. The idea of "ransom" has had its false theory; for in the seventh century some theologians said, "It was a price paid to the devil." That we are the slaves of sin, and that Christ ransoms us, is the great doctrine of the gospel.

I. CHRIST GAVE HIMSELF . The humanity of that age gave others. What is the great study of the dying Roman age? Selfishness. The patricians, wrapped up in togas, saw, in the Colosseum, the gladiators fall to amuse them. The great generals brought home as slaves—physicians, musicians, and workmen, and used them as good investments. Rome bore away the native art of Greece to decorate its own homes. Not only the humanity of that age, but the humanity of every age without Christ tends to self-ism. The philosophy of the cross is the only social philosophy. It does not take . It leaves men to the personal use of their gifts and possessions; but it says, "Give yourself—your purest ideals, your best impulses, your noblest powers, for the good of others."

II. THE CAESARS OF THAT AGE HAD NO TRUE POWER . They held men by the throat, and not by the heart; and they were lifted to Caesarship by the Praetorian guards. They rose and fell by the sword; and the dagger or the Tiber saw the last of them. The words were a satire on the Savior, " saying that he also himself is Christ, a King"—an unconscious prophecy, and yet how true! His kingdom came without observation; it was an empire within the heart; it was not in word, but in power; it was not with observation, but it silently grew like the mustard seed. Its foundation was in this, " He gave himself"—his exquisite sensibilities, his sacred energies, his unwearied endurance, his contact with shame and scorn; and then, on the cross, he died, "the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God."—W.M.S.

1 Timothy 2:9 . — Modest adornment.

"That women adorn themselves in modest apparel." The gospel never permits asceticism. As God is the God of beauty, and nature is clothed with garments (like the high priest of old) of glory and beauty, so here we have the true idea carried out in religion. Women are "to adorn themselves." God's most beautiful work in creation, the human frame, is to be fitly appareled; for, to this day, art knows no higher subject than the human face and form. But—

I. MODESTY IS TO BE THE SPIRIT OF ALL ADORNMENT , because the nature of the being adorned is a sacred nature. Woman is the true guardian of virtue. Her manner, her temper, her spirit,—all these constitute the best defense of virtue.

II. DRESS IS THE SYMBOL OF CHARACTER . If there is absence of shame-heartedness, there will be absence of shame-facedness. The womanhood of that age had sunk very low. By turns woman had been the toy or slave of man. The gospel uplifted her; for we are all equal in the sight of God. There was neither male nor female there; and she must help the great ideal, and by modest apparel show the innate modesty of her thought and feeling. For, say what we like, dress acts upon the mind and character. Dress like a clown, and you will feel like a clown. Modest apparel need not be shorn of taste and refinement and true beauty. It is no dishonor to a woman that she likes dress. It is not Christian to destroy that taste; but that which becometh women professing godliness is modest though beautiful apparel.—W.M.S.