2 Timothy 1:1-2, 8-18, especially vss. 13, 14: "Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us." Bishop Kallistos Ware echoes St. Paul's counsel to "hold fast the pattern of sound words" (vs. 13) when he speaks of Orthodoxy's living continuity with the Lord Jesus, the Apostles, and the Holy Fathers: "Orthodox are always talking about Tradition...the faith and practice which Jesus Christ imparted to the Apostles, and which since the Apostles' time has been handed down from generation to generation in the Church." Like the Apostles, Bishop Kallistos links Holy Tradition to the activity of the Spirit of God: "In order to live within Tradition, it is not enough simply to give intellectual assent to a system of doctrine; for Tradition...is a life, a personal encounter with Christ in the Holy Spirit....it is the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church."
Orthodoxy is able to hold fast to "the pattern of sound words" from the Apostles successfully because of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within the Church, a continuity that often astonishes those from the denominations. St. Paul would not be surprised at this, however, as today's reading shows. He expected and counseled constancy of doctrine and practice in the Church even in the early decades during which he served: "...I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day" (vs. 12).
St. Paul urged his apprentice Timothy to "hold fast" the pattern, and further, he directs Timothy to maintain "that good thing...by the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us." Because the Apostle knew the Lord by direct encounter of the Holy Spirit, he was able to issue such an order.
In the Apostle's generation, Christians faced brutal attempts to crush the Church and to remove the Gospel from history. Do not forget that this letter was penned in the context of mounting efforts to end the living continuity of the Faith, during which the Apostle would be martyred at Rome, beheaded for his Faith. Yet St. Paul never doubted that God would advance the Gospel "until that Day" (vs. 12). Notice that he strove to impart this certainty to his under-study, Timothy. We too are blessed, for, as an intercessor, St. Paul is praying for us even now - that we remain confident before the opposition that faces us in the modern, secular world.
Listen to our Apostle: "do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me" (vs. 
. Rather, he commands us to "...share with me in the sufferings" (vs. . We are to embrace the same repudiation of shame and sufferings "for the gospel" "according to the power of God" (vs. . How? In the same manner as the Lord Jesus, Who suffered as a man, being upheld by the power of God even on the Cross. He "trampled down death by death" vested in the power of God, and in every impossible circumstance in this world, we may accomplish the same.
Listen to the Apostle's next counsel: ours is a holy calling, "not according to our works, but according to [God's] purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began" (vs. 9). We are to be confident. St. Paul points out that we are engaged in the eternal purpose of God which is breaking into history and shaping the lives of many. Further, God's purpose is not subject to the change and vicissitudes of events, people, or movements.
Finally, let us heed this from St. Paul: while many "have turned away" from the Apostles and their message, like "all those in Asia, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes" (vs. 15), still God has zealous servants who are not ashamed of chains or the gospel, but in all conditions seek out faithful teachers true to the Apostles (vss. 16,17). Apostolic teaching alone is life.
O, Holy Apostles, intercede with the Merciful God that He grant salvation to our souls!