<p>5:23 <em>No longer drink only water; instead use a little wine for your stomach's sake</em>- A theme of the Timothy correspondence is that Timothy is indeed obedient to Paul's inspired commands- and therefore ultimately his ministry succeeds. He was clearly aware that Paul was concerned that he might abuse alcohol; for Paul commands Timothy not to be given to much wine (3:3). It seems Timothy took this to the extreme and would not touch any alcohol. Such total abstinence was rare in first century society, so we can assume Timothy adopted this position from purely spiritual reasoning. Seeing alcohol was one of the most commonly available medicines for stomach and other ailments, this meant enduring much suffering. And Paul doesn't believe that stoic suffering for the sake of it is required; rather he wants Timothy to be active and useful in the church. And to that end he had been given the gift of the Spirit within him, i.e. in his mind, within his psychology (2 Tim. 1:14). But he had to allow himself to &quot;be strengthened in the grace gift- of the Spirit that is in Christ&quot; (2 Tim. 2:1), to &quot;stir up the gift that is within you&quot; (2 Tim. 1:6). It was only due to doing this that according to the Lord's later letter to the Ephesians his ministry succeeded in the areas he was charged with inspiring good works and shutting down false teachers.</p><p><em>And your frequent infirmities</em>- We continue to get the picture of Timothy as weak both physically and in personality. To be given such a demanding, stressful commission, when stomach problems are often connected to nervous strain, means that his obedience and success is the more noteworthy. And it is a testimony to the internal, psychological power of the Holy Spirit within Timothy which empowered him mentally to pull through it.</p><p>Consider Timothy's weaknesses, both directly stated and implied:</p><p>- He first of all flunked the calling to remain in Ephesus (see on 1 Tim. 1:3)</p><p>- The commands concerning bishops were firstly Paul's commands to Timothy (see on 1 Tim. 3:14,15). The suggestion would be that Timothy needed to pay attention to things like not womanizing and being a solid family man</p><p>- Liable to be taken in by the Jewish myths pedalled by the old Jewish sisters (1 Tim. 4:7; 6:20)</p><p>- Easily discouraged by older people despising his youth, needing encouragement to set a good example (1 Tim. 4:12)</p><p>- Liable to neglect his gifts, not using his full spiritual potential (1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6,14; 4:5 &quot;make <em>full</em> proof of your ministry&quot;)</p><p>- Needing to take heed to himself (1 Tim. 4:16)</p><p>- Tempted to show partiality (1 Tim. 5:21) and to do the sins he saw other elders doing, being easily led (see on 1 Tim. 5:22)</p><p>- Frequently ill with stomach upsets (1 Tim. 5:23). Paul says that he himself had to work as a tentmaker in order to meet the needs of Timothy whilst Timothy was with him; he had to work because of Timothy's weakness, mentally or physically, because he was unable to work to make himself a living (see on Acts 20:34).</p><p>- Often in tears (2 Tim. 1:4)</p><p>- Being a fearful person rather than a positive one (2 Tim. 1:7)</p><p>- Fearful of suffering and having to identify with Paul from fear of persecution, easily embarrassed by association with Christ (2 Tim. 1:8), needing encouragement to &quot;endure hardness&quot; and have a disciplined mind and life (2 Tim. 2:3)</p><p>- Weak and needing to be stronger (2 Tim. 2:1)</p><p>- Easily caught up in secular things (2 Tim. 2:4) and to try to take spiritual shortcuts around the difficult inevitabilities of the true Christian life (2 Tim. 2:5)</p><p>- Needing to flee sexual lusts (2 Tim. 2:22), even though he was a married man with children, according to 1 Tim. 3. He had to be exhorted to &quot;purity&quot; (1 Tim. 4:12), the word carrying the specific idea of sexual purity. Paul commanded Timothy to be a man of one woman in chapter 3, and warns him to deal with the younger sisters &quot;with all purity&quot; (1 Tim. 5:2). Putting all this together, it would be fair to assume that Paul perceived a weakness in Timothy in this area. And yet all the same, Paul put him in to the position of eldership, with all the inter-personal contact with females which this required. But he warned him to beware of his weakness.</p><p>- Needing to be constantly reminded to &quot;continue&quot; and not give up, as he was near to doing (e.g. 2 Tim. 3:14).</p><p>All these issues could have been the result of being a 'rich kid'. 2 Tim. 3:16 says he was taught to read from the Scriptures by his mother and grandmother (2 Tim. 1:5). He was very blessed to have both a mother and grandmother to raise him; for female mortality was very high in the first century world. And the vast majority of the Roman empire was illiterate. So Timothy had advantages from birth which put him in a favoured minority. But this is no reason to despise him; he was made strong out of the weaknesses associated with his background.</p><p>Yet out of all this weakness, Timothy was made strong and according to the Lord's letter to the Ephesian church, he achieved his calling to stamp out false teaching, purify the eldership, and encourage the doing of &quot;good works&quot;. Perhaps he did it so zealously that the church ended up lacking the <em>agape </em>love for which finally it was condemned. But so far as his obedience to his particular ministry goes- he succeeded. Out of such weakness.</p>