Lessons from Ephesians, Timothy, and Hebrews
In our first day's reading we conclude Ephesians 5 and 6, filled with practical instruction. Then follow 1 and 2 Timothy. 1 Timothy was probably written in about the year 65, and 2 Timothy the year following. They were instruction by the apostle Paul to his own "son in the faith," Timothy, who was himself a minister of God, and through Timothy to all Christian ministers in all ages to follow. The principles contained in these two books, if followed by the minister of Christ, would well fit him for noble work for souls. In fact, it is marvelous, the amount of instruction that is packed in these two little epistles. They are inspirations to true manhood and to loyalty to God. They also emphasize the second coming of Christ. In the last of these letters the apostle's death was just at hand, and he wrote with the headsman already in view. The last day of the week has for its lesson the first two chapters of Hebrews, a general epistle written in about A.D. 63. The writer of the epistle is not known. It is generally spoken of as the epistle of Paul, but while Paul takes special pains in other epistles to let us know that he did not receive the gospel by men, or through men, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews tells us that it was "confirmed unto us by them that heard." It does not bear the characteristics, in either its beginning or ending, of the epistles of the apostle. Some have thought it was written by Barnabas, and others by Apollos, and still later it has been contended that it was written by Priscilla. However this may be, it matters little. It is not the writer, but the substance of the epistle, which is needed by the Christian church. The first chapter presents before us the exceeding majesty of the Son of God, far above all creatures, Himself the Creator; and the second chapter, His humiliation in our behalf, becoming one with the human family in order that He might save them. These two chapters are supplemented by Psalms 117 and 118,—a sweet little psalm of praise and a psalm of thanksgiving for Jehovah's saving goodness.