But *thou* hast been thoroughly acquainted with my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, endurance,
This chapter describes the corruption of the last days and the men who oppose the truth. Paul turns from that dark picture to one man who had watched him at close range. Timothy had followed not just a body of teaching but a whole life — its aim, its endurance, its love. Paul holds that up as the safeguard for hard times.
Older translations render "you have followed" as "you have fully known." The word points to more than casual acquaintance.
Here we get Paul's doctrine (v. 10) and the manner of life which flowed from it. "You have fully known" — that is, he had a perfect understanding of it. He had fully followed up his teaching, having learned it thoroughly. The manner of life goes with it.
The order matters. Paul names teaching first, then conduct, then aim — and each grows out of the one before it. (Older translations call these "doctrine," "manner of life," and "purpose.")
It is of great importance to observe that "my doctrine," or teaching, comes first. His teaching was the truth committed to his trust. From this we learn two things. Nothing will keep the saints safe in a time of widespread error except the possession of divine truth. And a walk according to God — for "manner of life," or conduct, comes next in the list — can only flow out from a knowledge of the truth. Only the truth builds up and sanctifies. So it lies at the base of all steadfastness, and at the same time it forms a walk worthy of the Lord. Then follows "purpose." He will not say "faithfulness," for the Lord alone judges how faithful His servants are. He says "purpose," because, through grace, it was the one desire of his heart to follow the Lord in all circumstances and at all costs.
Timothy heard Paul explain the truth. He also watched him live it.
The apostle's "course" or "conduct" also had great value. It put the truth into practice — the truth that shaped his judgments and feelings day by day. There is no better comment on the inspired word than the walk of those who obey it, whether one believer or a whole company.
The four qualities that follow in the verse are not abstract virtues. The collapse and hostility around Paul tested each one.
He can also mention faith. Confidence in God marked this devoted servant in all his trials. This alone sustained him amid the corruption that seemed to be flowing in from every side. This alone also made him "long-suffering" while all this was going on, and even towards the opponents of the truth. It made him show divine "love" in the presence of the evil, even though the more he loved the less he was loved. And it made him "patient," able to endure, because he knew, despite all appearances, what the final outcome of the conflict would be.
Earlier in the chapter Paul describes men who imitate the truth and resist it. What silences them is a life.
People saw this "manner of life" in Paul — a man with the same passions we have. He was the living expression of his own teaching. He points to his "aim in life," "faith," "patience," "love," "steadfastness" — and to the persecutions and sufferings he met at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra, out of which the Lord delivered him. Such was the course of this man. A course like this would silence the false imitation that was resisting the truth. Those imitators were always learning and never able to reach the knowledge of it.
Teaching and life do not always match in the same person. In Paul they did match, and that is what made him safe for Timothy to follow.
When we listen to those who present the Word of God, we must be careful. We must tell the difference between the person and the message he announces. We must not give the person an importance that belongs to the Scriptures alone. How good it is when we see that the speaker's conduct matches his teaching and cannot be separated from it! This was the case with Timothy and the apostle Paul. Timothy could know and follow both his teaching and his conduct, because in Paul the two agreed so closely.
- Followed — Timothy traced Paul's teaching all the way through and grasped it. The life that flowed from it came with the teaching.
- Truth first — in a time of widespread error, only holding divine truth keeps believers safe. A godly walk flows only out of knowing it.
- Then conduct — there is no better commentary on Scripture than the walk of those who obey it.
- Then endurance — faith held Paul up amid the corruption around him. It produced the patience, love and steadfastness the verse names, even when the more he loved the less he was loved.
- Then witness — a life like this silences imitation. Counterfeits are always learning and never reaching the truth. The test of any teacher is whether his conduct and his teaching hold together.
persecutions, sufferings what [sufferings] happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra; what persecutions I endured; and the Lord delivered me out of all.
Paul has just described the last days in dark colours. Now he turns to his own record: three towns, a list of persecutions, and one short line about rescue.
The place names trace Paul's first journey into Asia Minor. The order matters, and so does who stirred up the violence.
Timothy was thoroughly acquainted with what happened to the apostle at Antioch (of Pisidia), at Iconium, and at Lystra. Persecution fell on Paul in that order. He and Barnabas made their return journey in the reverse order. On the way back they strengthened the souls of the disciples converted a little before (Acts 14). In all this suffering and opposition the Jews were guilty of stirring up the Gentiles against the word of life and against those who preached it. So when it came to close quarters, stoning was the method used.
Paul is not telling Timothy news. Timothy came from that region, and the worst of these scenes happened on his doorstep.
Timothy fully knew what persecutions Paul endured at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. Most of these persecutions happened on Paul's first missionary journey (Acts 14). Timothy was perhaps only a boy then. But he knew all about them, and may have seen some of them himself. At Lystra Paul was stoned and dragged out of the city, taken for dead. Very likely the boy Timothy was among the disciples who "stood around him" when he "rose up and went into the city." … Yet he did not hesitate to follow Paul. He must have known well that it would mean sharing similar persecutions.
The verse sits deliberately against what came before it. Where chapter 3 opens with corruption, Paul answers it with a life anyone could inspect.
Paul's walk comes very close to the walk of Christ. For this reason the Holy Spirit often leads him to point to himself as an example to others. That is the case here. He has been describing the moral corruption that will mark the dangerous times of the last days. He also has in mind the difficulties of those who want to be faithful to the Lord, as Timothy did. So he sets himself before them as a pattern for all who find themselves in these circumstances.
The list of hardships is not a complaint, and it does not end with Paul. It ends with the Lord — and it echoes a line from the Psalms.
If he recounts his sufferings in his service and testimony, it is only to magnify the Lord's faithfulness. He adds, "But out of them all the Lord delivered me." There may have been persecutions. But like the psalmist he had to say, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous," and he could join in the same testimony, "But the LORD delivers him out of them all" (Ps. 34:19).
Verse 10 gives two safeguards for hard times: knowing the doctrine, and living a life that matches it. This verse adds a third.
There is a further source of security, for, thirdly, we read of the support of the Lord. Paul can witness to this from his own experience. Speaking of the sufferings and persecutions that his life involved, he can say, "Out of them all the Lord delivered me." If we work hard to know the doctrine, and are ready to live a life consistent with it, we shall know the support of the Lord.
Paul was brought out of his troubles, not kept from them. (The ESV has "from them all"; older translations, "out of them all.")
In His wise government God allows the afflictions of the righteous to be many. But His goodness toward them is fully equal to the need, and He delivers them out of them all. Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:18, "The Lord will deliver me from every evil work." This deliverance did not mean he would not suffer. In fact, the evil work of Satan led to Paul's execution in prison, but that was the very means of his deliverance.
Timothy could draw the same lesson. He had seen the trouble in Paul's life at those three cities. So he could also be "ready to expect deliverance in one way or another" (C. E. Stuart).
- Known — Timothy needed no news, only a reminder. He came from that region, may have watched Paul stoned at Lystra as a boy, and followed him anyway.
- Ordered — Antioch, Iconium, Lystra: that is the order the persecutions fell. Opposition stirred up the crowds, and at Lystra it came to stoning.
- Shown — the chapter describes moral collapse. Against it Paul sets his own life, a pattern for anyone who wants to stay faithful.
- Supported — sound doctrine and a matching life are two safeguards. The Lord's own support is the third, and Paul proves it from experience.
- Delivered — Paul lists the sufferings to magnify the Lord's faithfulness, as Psalm 34:19 does. The rescue came out of every trouble, not around it.