Guard with Diligence

Guarding with Diligence

1 Timothy 6:20-21 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.

We tend to guard many things in our lives. We have passwords and pin numbers (dozens of them at times!) to guard our bank accounts. We might guard our homes (cameras, guns, etc.). “guarding the deposit entrusted to you” should ring as extremely important in our minds. What was the purpose of Paul telling this to Timothy?

Let us remember that we as Christians indeed have SOMETHING TO GUARD, that we can FAIL in our Stewardship, and that the secret to guarding what has been given to us is DILIGENCE.

I. As Citizens of God’s Kingdom, there is something to guard.

A. The Gospel

1. Faith in Christ - John 8:24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins."

2. The proof of that faith in repentance - 2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

3. Confession of Jesus’ name - Matthew 10:32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

4. Baptism, which completes obedience - Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

B. The Faith

1. Simply put, the doctrine handed down by Jesus to the Apostles, and from there to the Church as a whole.

2. This was what was “entrusted” to Timothy.

3. Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

4. 2 Timothy 1:13-14 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

C. Our lives in Christ

1. Being on guard means that we are providing protection not only for the Truth that God has given, but for our own souls as we live this life on earth.

2. 2 Peter 3:17-18 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

3. Our life in Christ is something to be GUARDED. This is not some light task that we can slip by.

D. The Church (local and universal)

1. Our worship is something to be guarded, in the sense of continuing and upholding it as long as it is what God wants.

a. Many “churches” don’t care about how they worship, and consider worship itself to be fulfilling God’s will.

b. Instrumental accompaniment to singing, pageants, plays, literally anything under the sun can be considered to be a valid addition to a worship assembly when we stop guarding the worship.

2. Our work as a congregation is to be guarded: Preaching, Teaching, edification, Benevolence for needy saints.

a. Again, many would add to that list as much as possible, but God is very specific with what He shows the local congregation doing in the New Testament.

3. The organization of the Church is something to be guarded.

a. Universally, we have only Jesus Christ as the head of the Church.

b. Locally, we have the model of Elders/Bishops/Shepherds/Pastors, Deacons, and Saints.

c. There is no example of any organization existing between the local congregation and the Universal Church. If we allow such, we are not guarding the pattern of the Church that God has given.

II. If we fail to Guard, we will suffer as sinners

A. We will miss out on opportunities to stand for Christ.

1. 1 Peter 4:16-19 - Failing to stand means that we will not shine as lights of Christ for the world.

2. Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

B. We will be carried away from Christ.

1. 1 Timothy 4:1-8 - The Apostles knew this would happen once they were gone.

2. We know from history that it DID happen. The result was the Catholic church, a human institution.

C. We will count what we have been given as nothing.

1. Matthew 16:26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

2. Hebrews 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

III. The Key to Guarding is Diligence.

A. Diligence means that we CARE.

1. Romans 12:6-9 - If we intend to guard what we have from God, it means we need to be REAL about this.

2. Caring means that we are impartial to personalities, and loving of God’s Truth.

3. James 2:1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

4. If we “hold the faith”, it means that we LOVE God. Partiality interferes with that, wherein we love Man more than God.

5. The result is apathy. We just don’t care about what happens to our local congregation.

B. Diligence means that we are being PROACTIVE.

1. Acts 20:28-30 - Paul wanted the elders at Ephesus to be diligent. They needed to be forewarned so that they could take the appropriate preparatory steps to deal with the coming aposatasy.

2. 1 Timothy 4:16 Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

C. Diligence means that we are WORKING.

1. 2 Timothy 2:15 (ASV) Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.

2. 2 Timothy 4:1-5 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

3. Ephesians 4:1-3 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

4. The achievement of unity is only possible through DILIGENCE.

2 Peter 3:13-15 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,