2 Timothy 4:13 The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when you come, bring with you, and the books, but especially the parchments. We have here — 1. A striking illustration of the manner of Divine inspiration. The divinest communications of truth appear in connection with things of personal and secular concern. 2. A beautiful display of spiritual self-possession. 3. An affecting utterance of human needs. With all his present principles, past achievements, and future destiny, he has yet necessities as well as resources. Spirituality did not destroy his physical sensibilities; heroic courage and independence did not deaden his social affections; supernatural illumination did not make him depreciate the ordinary means of information and excitement. I. PHYSICAL. "The cloak." Paul needed a garment, and wished for one. To slight the body is a mark of heretics; to destroy it is to be a murderer. What a world of need is caused by its possession! What urgent demands does it make on care and effort, skill and labour! But the thought here is, that the body is a source of trouble, inconvenience, dependence; — that small things may lead to its discomfort and injury. Let but the ordinary laws of nature be broken; let but the ordinary operations of life be suspended; let there be but a little accident, a slight mistake, a temporary forgetfulness; and how bitterly are we made to feel the pressure and responsibility of our material charge! We cannot afford to trifle with or ignore it. The most spiritual and independent must remember the mislaid or forgotten dress. II. THE SOCIAL. "When thou comest." "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me." Man is a social being — made to feel for and with his fellow-men. He is revealed, regaled, renewed by fellowship. It is a lamp, a feast, a buttress of his being. It is everything whereby he can be ministered unto, or help to minister. Fellowship in woe, in joy, in work, in thought, is a rich delight, and in most cases a great necessity. III. THE SPIRITUAL. "The books, especially the parchments." We know not what these were, but are sure they were books tending to cultivation of mind and heart. What a field of thought is opened up by these words I See the ministry of minds; see their working and results preserved and propagated by the use of letters; see the labours and rewards of some made the inheritance of others; and all this beyond the sphere Of personal presence and immediate influence see it done for men and ages unborn. What a debt we owe to books! What information and stimulus! what means of growth! what instruments of knowledge, joy, and power! "Especially the parchments." Some think these were a kind of commonplace book, in which the apostle put his own reflections and precious passages met with in his reading. If so, we have an important thought. That is most a man's own which he has originated, or thoroughly appropriated by meditation. Books are nothing but as they are "read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested." Lessons: 1. The subject teaches humility. 2. Gratitude. 3. Benevolence. 4. Self-interest. (A. J. Morris.) Parallel Verses KJV: The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. |
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