Sketches from the Life of Paul (1883) — PDF Scan 332

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PAUL'S LAST LETTER . 325 misdirectedefforts. God has declaredhiswill, and itisabsolutemadness for men to change or even questionthatwhich hasgone outof hislips. After InfiniteWisdom has spoken,therecanbe no doubtfulquestionsforman tosettle,no wavering probabilitiesfor him toadjust. All the interestsof timeand of eternityare involvedina frank , earnest concurrence of the mind and will of men with theexpressedwillof God . Obedience isthe highestdictateof reason as well as of conscience. Those who choose to listen to other voicesand tofollowotherguides,willbe turned unto fables,and , trustingto these,they will in theday of God meet with infiniteloss. Paul continueshis charge: " Watch thou in allthings, endure afflictions,do the work of an evangelist, make fullproof of thy ministry." Now that Paul is called to finish his course,he would have Timothy supplyhisplace,and guard the churches from the fables and heresies with which Satan and his agents would in various ways endeavortoseducethem fromthesimplicity of the truth. He therefore admonishes him to shun alltemporal pursuitsand entanglements which would preventhim from givinghimself wholly to thiswork ; to endure with cheerfulness theopposition,reproach,andpersecutiontowhich hisfaithfulnesswould expose him ;to "make full proofof his ministry," by employingtotheuttermosteverymeans of doinggood to the souls of men for whom Christ died . Paul had never been afraid or ashamed to confess Christ before men . He had stood in no doubtfulposition, but under allcircumstances had unhesitatinglycommittedhimselfupon the sideofjusticeand righteousness. His own life