26) Guard the Truth
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We come today to the final set of instructions that Paul has written down to his friend. Paul had heard about the challenges this young Pastor was facing in his own walk and with the challenges that were facing the church. Challenges that were primarily from within and these issues were causing all sorts of trouble in the community of believers. As he could not be there in person he sends this letter to strengthen him to do the work of leading the church, to shepherding the flock in his church.
With a very short and unique ending for a letter of Paul’s, where he kept direct and to the point he ends the letter with a direct command to Timothy. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 6:20-21.
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge. 21 By professing it, some people have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
In the Greek this passage starts with O’ Timothy. Most of the other common translations that are used here read more like this
20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.
This an exclamation of his final point to Timothy. O’ Timothy guard the deposit that has been entrusted to you. Of everything else that has been communicated so far in the letter, he puts this primary emphasis on this last command “Guard what has been entrusted to you”
The Deposit
The Deposit
The word here is a banking word and it means a deposit that has been entrusted to a bank. When you deposit money in the bank and you drive out of the parking lot do you question if your money is there? Do you worry about the bank, up and leaving and you showing up the next week and the bank being gone. No, when we deposit money into a bank we believe and trust that when we come back to make a withdrawal that our money will be there.
This is how this word was used. It is a trusted deposit. In this case instead of the bank as the recipient of the deposit it is Timothy himself who has been given the deposit. So what was entrusted to him.
In chapter one after he states that the law was not meant for a righteous person but for those that live contrary to sound teaching he state that
10 … and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which was entrusted to me.
In his second letter he would affirm this.
8 So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me his prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 This has now been made evident through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald, apostle, and teacher, 12 and that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.
The gospel and good news of Jesus was entrusted to Paul which he wrote on in multiple ways but most directly in Chapter 1.
15 This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.
The good news that God saves sinners. Even the ones that we look out into the world and say to ourselves they do not deserve to be saved. That was Paul and it was each one of us. The filthiest and most vile human being you can think of is no more profane than the most well dressed and popular philanthropist in the world that does not believe that Christ saved them on the cross from the wrath of God for their sins.
This message of good news to the sinner, the gospel of God, had been entrusted to Paul and he would use this language in his writings to other churches to tell them that they were also entrusted with the gospel.
3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive. 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts.
To the church in Galatia
7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, 8 since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles.
He worded it this way to the Corinthians
1 A person should think of us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of the mysteries of God.
The mysteries of God that have been revealed. All of the scriptures point to the gospel. They point to the need a savior by recording the waywardness and rebellion of man towards God. The plan of God to provide his son as the savior. How to be saved. The effect of those that have been saved. The promises and blessing to those that believe in the gospel and the warnings to those who reject it.
All of God’s word is the truth of God. And thus what the gospel is is the truth of God and his words. His words that have been entrusted to the servants of God.
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness, 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. 3 In his own time he has revealed his word in the preaching with which I was entrusted by the command of God our Savior:
Over and over again in the New Testament we see there a common theme of those that call themselves Christians to obey the truth, to live the truth, to proclaim the truth and to trust in the truth. Individually and corporately Christians are to be people of the truth. The truth that has been given to God’s people.
15 But if I should be delayed, I have written so that you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
As God has wonderfully revealed himself to men and women through his word, the word’s of God should be precious to us.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your constant love and truth. You have exalted your name and your promise above everything else.
We have been reading small parts of Psalm 119 on Sunday evenings and you find a man writing about the words of God and it could be summed up this way.
161 … but my heart stands in awe of your words.
The word’s of God are to be the primary source of a Christian’s life. It contains all that is required to live and to live eternally. But they are to be approached with the proper heart.
2 My hand made all these things, and so they all came into being. This is the Lord’s declaration. I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and trembles at my word.
Timothy has been given the truth and the deposit that was given to Paul. But as we have seen in this book just because someone knows the word that doesn’t mean that they will not come before the word with the proper heart. Much of this letter is responding to those that know what the scriptures say but falsely teach from them. Or they use them for a sinful purpose.
17 For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.
Paul tells him, O Timothy you must guard it. To guard what has been deposited to him from God.
Guard the Deposit
Guard the Deposit
To guard the deposit is to keep something valuable safe. To the believer there is nothing more valuable or precious then the saving words of God, the truth.
13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Timothy is told to hold to or to keep to the pattern of sound teaching. To never let it slip in anyway and he is to keep what has been given to him. He is to keep it safe from the attack of enemies to the truth. This deposit is kept safe through the work of the holy spirit in his life and in the life of all believers.
It is the responsibility of every believer to live a life that keeps the deposit that was given to them safe. The consequence are of primary importance.
What is at Stake?
What is at Stake?
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding irreverent and empty speech and contradictions from what is falsely called knowledge. 21 By professing it, some people have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
What Timothy found like many other pastors, is that when people turn from holding to the truth, what likely happens is that they fall into stitting around and having discussions that are filled with irreverent and empty speech. They claim a knowledge that is really not knowledge at all but words and ideas that are filled with contradictions.
He is to avoid these conversations. They are irreverent or profane. These are conversations that do not honor God or speak of the good things of God. He is to avoid or shun these ideas that are being brought forth. They are constant draw on the mind and bring forth uncertainty as they are filled with conflicting ideas. He isn’t to dive into them but to charge them to stop teaching these ideas.
3 As I urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine 4 or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.
He is to not let them continue in the church but is it also not to get entangled in them himself.
7 But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness.
If the false teaching is not stopped and they start to take root in the mind and the church, Paul says those that profess these ideas they have departed from the faith.
21 By professing it, some people have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
The word for departed means to swerve to the side or around. Those that go away from the truth of God’s word run down paths where they find themselves further and further in the weeds. Into the gray areas. Then they proclaim what they have found as truth and in doing so they lead people out into the darkness with them.
Have you ever been in the woods at night camping. Large fire .… False conclusions… from the shadows
18 They have departed from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and are ruining the faith of some.
Their instruction, teaching, and preaching was to build up the believer and to call back those that were walking out into the darkness.
5 Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion.
This is the simple summary of the entire letter. Hold tight and guard the truth for without it people will perish.
Ephesus was a struggling church that had turned in many ways from the truth that Paul had taught many years before and now they find themselves in a mess that needs correction. This is such a relevant message for the church today. There are many churches that are groping in the darkness claiming to have knowledge and they peddle it as truth. They are so good at convincing others that they can see clearly but they are blinded and conceited, puffed up and filled with their own greatness. They seek to redefine the church into their own image instead of conforming to the image of God.
We want to look at the church and determine what makes a good church. Is it the talent of the pastor, the size of the building, the number of members or campuses. Is it how friendly it is or how much money they raise and give. Each of these are metric that are used to measure the health or goodness or a church. In John MacArthur’s commentary on this passage he writes.
1 Timothy: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Chapter 26: Handling Truth
The most important yardstick by which a church can be measured is not how large it is, how good its fellowship is, or how interesting the pastor is. It is not how good the music is, how well the grounds are kept up, or how respected it is in the community. The most important measure of any church is how it handles the Word of God. Whether or not they teach and live out divine truth is the key issue, because the church’s responsibility before God is to guard and proclaim the truths of Scripture. Consequently, the most severe crime against God is to mishandle His revelation, thus portraying a false, idolatrous image of Him to the world.
To change the word’s of God, proclaims a different God, to claim to be a Christian and to not live by the word’s of God proclaims a different God. God has given us what we need to know. There is no more to add to the book. But we must learn, live and teach the book to ourselves and the people around us.
2 You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city, which are written about in this book.
So how do we guard what has been entrusted to us.
The truth is to be guarded by the elders and leaders of the church.
1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
He is to Preach the word.
13 Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching.
It is the word’s of God himself that the elder has to lead the church that God has appointed him. There isn’t any other tool to use.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
This is why elder must be able to teach.
2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
And why those that work hard at preaching and teaching are to be considered worthy of honor.
17 The elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
If the leadership in a church walks off into the darkness, where do the other people go? Eventually many will follow out into the darkness with them and they will all be blind to the reality of what is true. There is a great need for men who have full faith in the word of God as the foundation for their ministry. They fear the stricter judgement.
1 Not many should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we will receive a stricter judgment.
The truth is guarded by men who teach it true and to the best of their ability live it out in their lives.
16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.
And where do these elders come from? They come from personal growth in the word. They come from young men growing and maturing into wise men. Men that have learned to guard the deposit that has been given to them.
Men who follow the paths of the elders. Men who are training in righteousness and godliness.
15 Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. 16 Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness, 17 and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them.
And where do these men come from? They come from other believers that chose to pour into their lives. Moms and dads, men and women, brothers and sisters in Christ. I stand here today because of so many people who have spent time with me, who made my growth a part of their life. I never knew what God was doing but I am a product of the word and the people. We must never take for granted the power of time and the many opportunities that we have to help others guard what is entrusted to them.
The word is to be a central part of our daily lives.
1 “This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. 2 Do this so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. 3 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.
Just reading the word with others and with your kids is so important but you must also live it out in your own life.
13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
We guard the truth by proclaiming it, living it, and passing it on to others.
Conclusion
Conclusion
False teachers and distortions of God’s word have been around for a long time and will continue to be around. The world is full of ideas that are contrary to God. These messages come at us every day from every direction. We must fight to keep them out of our own minds and hearts. We do this in many ways but here are a few.
24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
Mind - We must believe that the word is true and trust that it is the very words of God.
19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Mind-Honor/Love
97 How I love your instruction! It is my meditation all day long.
Mind - Study
15 Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
Heart - Obedience
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples.
Hands - We must live it out and it must be the guiding light in your life.
Hands - Preach it
2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching.
Hands - Defend it
3 Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.
21 By professing it, some people have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.
God’s good will to you all.
Let us pray.
Let us pray.
Prayer
Communion
Warning
Children, Lost, Sin
19 And he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he also took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
27 Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks, he gave it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Prayer
Song
Closing
Blessing/Benediction
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
