476 WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. Not such, he means, art thou : I call thee not merely a son, but a " dearly beloved son." As he calls the Galatians his children, but at the same time complains of them ; " My little chil dren," he says, " of whom I travail in birth again." (Gal. iv. 19.) And he bears particu lar testimony to his virtue by calling him " be loved." For where love does not arise from nature, it must arise from the merit of the ob ject. Those who are born of us, are loved not only on account of their virtue, but from the force of nature ; but when those who are of the faith are beloved, it is on account of nothing but their merit, for what else can it be ? And this especially in the case of Paul, who never acted from partiality. And further, he shows by calling him his " beloved son," that it was not because he was offended with him, or de spised him, or condemned him ; that he did not come to him. Ver. 2. " Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and Christ Jesus our Lord." These things which he before prayed for, he again invokes upon him. And observe how, at the very beginning, he excuses himself for not having come to him, nor seen him. For his words, " Till I come," and, " Hoping to come to thee shortly," had led Timothy to expect his coming soon. For this he excuses himself, but he does not immediately mention the cause of his not coming, lest he should grieve him mightily. For he was detained in prison by the emperor. But when at the end of the Epistle he invited him to come to him, then he informed him of it. He does not at the outset plunge him into sorrow, but encourages the hope that he shall see him. " Greatly desiring to see thee," and " Do thy diligence to come unto me shortly." (2 Tim. i. 4, and iv. 9.) Immedi ately therefore he raises him up, and proceeds to praise him. Ver. 3, 4. " I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that with out ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I might be filled with joy." " I thank God, he says, that I remember thee, so much do I love thee." This is a mark of excessive love, when a man glories in his affection from loving so much. " I thank God," he says, " Whom I serve": and how? "With a pure conscience," for he had not violated his conscience. And here he speaks of his blame less life, for he everywhere calls his life his con science. Or because I never gave up any good that I purposed, for any human cause, not even when I was a persecutor. Wherefore he says, " I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief" (i Tim. i. 13) ; all but saying, " Do not suspect that it was done of wickedness." He properly commends his own disposition, that his love may appear sincere. For what he says is in fact, " I am not false, I do not think one thing and profess another." So in the book of Acts we read he was compelled to praise him self. For when they slandered him as a sedi tious man and an innovator, he said in his own defense, " Ananias said to me, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee that thou shouldest know His will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth. For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." (Acts xxii. 14, 15.) In the same manner here, that he may not, as if he had been forgetful, have the character of one void of friendship and conscience, he justly praises himself, saying, that " without ceasing I have remembrance of thee," and not simply that, but " in my prayers." That is, it is the business of my prayers, that which I constantly continue to perform. For this he shows by say ing, " For this I besought God day and night,, desiring to see thee." Mark his fervent desire, the intensity 1 of his love. And again, his hu mility, how he apologizes to his disciples, and then he shows that it was not on light or vain grounds ; and this he had shown us before, but again gives proof of it. " Being mindful of thy tears." It was natural for Timothy, when part ing from him, 2 to mourn and weep, more than a child torn away from the milk and from the breast of its mother. " That I may be filled with joy ; greatly desiring to see thee." I would not will ingly have deprived myself of so great a pleasure, though I had been of an unfeeling and brutal nature, for those tears coming to my remem brance would have been enough to soften me. But such is not my character. I am one of those who serve God purely ; so that many strong motives urged me to come to thee. So then he wept. And he mentions another cause, and that of a consolatory kind. Ver. 5. "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee." This is another commendation, that Timothy came not of Gentiles, nor of unbelievers, but of a family that served Christ from the first. (Acts xvi. i, 3.) " Which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice." For Timothy, it says, " was the son of a cer tain woman which was a Jewess, and believed." How a Jewess? how believing? Because she was not of the Gentiles, " but on account of his father, who was a Greek, and of the Jews that 1 t*.a.viav. Lit. " madness." 2 The present tense implies that it was at the time of parting. Mr. Greswell supposes that St. Paul had been recently apprehended in the presence of Timothy; see his work on the Harmony of the Gospels, Vol. 2, Diss. i, pp. 97, 98.