HOMILY XVIII.] HOMILIES ON TIMOTHY. 471 HOMILY XVIII. i TIMOTHY vi. 13-16. " I give thee charge in the sight of God,Who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, Who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unre- bukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ : which in his times He shall show, Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to Whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen." AGAIN he calls God to witness, as he had done a little before, at once to increase his disciple s awe, and to secure his safety, and to show that these were not human commandments, that receiving the commandment as from the Lord Himself, and ever bearing in mind the Witness 1 before Whom he heard it, he may have it more fearfully impressed upon his mind. " I charge thee," he says, " before God, Who quickeneth all things." Here is at once consolation in the dangers which awaited him, and a remembrance of the resurrection awakened in him. "And before Jesus Christ, Who before Pon tius Pilate witnessed a good confession." The exhortation again is derived from the example of his Master, and what he means is this ; as He had done, so ought ye to do, for for this cause He "witnessed" (i Pet. ii. 21), that we might tread in His steps. "A good confession. " : What he does in his Epistle to the Hebrews, "Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith ; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For con sider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds" (Heb. xii. 2, 3), that he now does to his disciple Timothy. As if he had said, Fear not death, since thou art the servant of God, Who can give life to all things. But to what " good confession " does he allude ? To that which He made when Pilate asked, " Art thou a King?" "To this end," He said, "was I born." And again, " I came, that I might bear witness to the Truth. Behold, these have heard Me." (John xviii. 37.) He may mean this, or that when asked, "Art thou the Son of God?" He answered, "Thou sayest, that I am 1 Edd. a<t> ov, " fromwhom "; but B. has e c ov, and Old Lat. sub qito, which is much better. - Savile s punctuation. Ben. joins this to the preceding clause, but so it is scarcely grammatical. (the Son of God)." (Luke xxii. 70.) And many other testimonies and confessions did He make. Ver. 14. " That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ." That is, till thy end, thydeparturehence,though he does not so express it, but that he may the more arouse him, says, "till His appearing." But what is "to keep the commandment with out spot"? To contract no defilement, either of doctrine or of life. Ver. 15. "Which in His times He shall show, Who is the blessed and only Potentate, King of kings, and Lord of lords, Who only hath immor tality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto." Of whom are these things said? Of the Father, or of the Son? Of the Son, undoubt edly : and it is said for the consolation ofTimo thy, that he may not fear nor stand in awe of the kings of the earth. "In His times," that is, the due and fitting times, that he may not be impatient, because it has not yet come. And whence is it manifest, that He will show it ? Because He is the Poten tate, the " only Potentate." He then will show it,Who is " blessed," nay blessedness itself; and this is said, to show that in that appearing there is nothing painful or uneasy. But he says, " only," either in contradistinc tion to men, or because He was unoriginated,3 or as we sometimes speak of a man whom we wish to extol. "Who only hath immortality." What then? hath not the Son immortality? Is He not im mortality itself? How should not He, who is of the same substance with the Father, have immortality ? " Dwelling in the light which no man can ap proach unto." Is He then Himself one Light, and is there another in which He dwells ? is He then circumscribed by place? Think not of it. By this expression is represented the Incompre- hensibleness of the Divine Nature. Thus he speaks of God, in the best way he is able. Observe, how when the tongue would utter something great, it fails in power. " Whom no man hath seen nor can see." As, indeed, no one hath seen the Son, nor can see Him.4 4 That is, in His divine nature, considered apart from the human.