Guarding the Treasure, 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.” 1 Timothy 6:20-21

Closing out the letter…

“O Timothy”

Paul finishes this letter with an emphasis… brings it home, reiterates its importance, and does so by speaking directly to Timothy and writing his name one more time… as if to say “lean in here brother”, this last thing is the main thing… and it is. Paul ends the letter like he begins the letter, which echoes the reason he gives in the middle for writing the letter.

He began the letter with the charge to protect the gospel against false teaching and proclaim the truth that was passed on to Him.

1 Timothy 1:3-7 says,

[3] As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, [4] nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. [5] The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. [6] Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, [7] desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

In the middle of the letter Paul gives the reason for sending it…

1 Timothy 3:14–16 says,

“14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

We have referenced this passage almost every week since January… the fact that Paul states the purpose for his letter helps to rightly understand everything that comes before and that comes after in what he writes to Timothy. And, the theme of proclaiming and protecting the gospel is present from the beginning of the letter all the way to the end, where we find ourselves today.

Exposit the passage

Being a few summary points to bear in closing…

The closing passage reveals that The Gospel is a treasure worth devoting your whole life to proclaiming and protecting.

“O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.”

What is the deposit? The deposit is the gospel, it is the truth, the true knowledge of who Jesus is, what He has done, and the blessing of His salvation and inheritance that are promised to those who believe in Him.

Why does God stress getting the truth right so much in the Bible?

Getting the Gospel wrong is eternally disastrous.

By professing false knowledge some have swerved or moved away from the truth.

This doesn’t mean that someone can lose their salvation. But, it does mean that through actions and beliefs some will reveal that they don’t belong to the Kingdom.

1 John 2:19-20 says,

19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

If those who have heard the truth reveal they are not actually believers by embracing false teaching and promoting different doctrines, then we also know that if someone believes different doctrines and teaching than what comes from the prophets and the apostles they are lost.

Like it says in 1 Timothy 6:20-21

“Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.”

The “irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge” are attempts at achieving godliness and contentment without Christ.

And what are these false teachings and irreverent babbles? They are teachings that offer godliness and contentment separate from Jesus.

But, the mystery of godliness is Jesus Christ, not 5 steps or a path to personal perfection.

This is what Paul writes in the middle of the letter… 1 Timothy 3:14–16 says, “14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”

Paul presents the treasure of the gospel, what he calls the mystery of godliness, in 1 Timothy 3:16.

The mystery of godliness is not the path to perfectly keeping the law or a list of rituals that make up for your failures.

(Expound)

The mystery of godliness is the gracious exchange of the righteousness of Jesus Christ for the sinfulness of humanity through His cross, burial, and resurrection.

The treasure isn’t knowledge that allows you to accomplish perfection or attain some special power. (Like you see in books and movies)

The treasure of the gospel is the truth, or the confession as Paul calls it, of Jesus.

This treasure, the Gospel, has been entrusted to the church to be passed on from one generation to the next.

And it is in this truth that we find contentment. As it says in 1 Timothy 6:8, “6But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7for we brought nothing into the world, andc we cannot take anything out of the world.”

In the face of false teaching that would tell you can gain both godliness and contentment through your efforts, the truth of the mystery we confess is that it is through Christ we are made righteous and content.

Godliness and contentment are in Jesus Christ. Contentment is not found by adding something to Jesus…

Jesus + Anything = False Teaching

You cannot just add things to Jesus. False teachers will take Jesus and then add perfect keeping of the law, rituals, etc as the thing that seals or guarantees your salvation.

Jesus + morality = contentment or the good life

Jesus + social standing

Jesus + riches

Jesus + material belongings

Jesus + marriage

Jesus + kids

Jesus + denial

The gospel is that Jesus saves and satisfies. It’s not Jesus plus your anything that saves you. You are saved by Jesus..

Anything - Jesus = False Teaching

Nothing else in this world will bring true contentment. When you consider the context of this passage, in the same way that Paul is refuting the argument just Jesus + Judaism = truth…

Judaism without Jesus = false teaching or different doctrine

Morality without Jesus

Social Justice without Jesus

Marriage without Jesus

Kids and family without Jesus

Sermons without Jesus

Purpose without Jesus

Riches without Jesus

Contentment without Jesus

Joy without Jesus

Happiness without Jesus

Unity without Jesus

Good life without Jesus

When we get the gospel wrong, there is an eternal disaster and destruction for those who miss the truth. And…

Getting the Gospel right is an eternal blessing.

The mystery that we confess is the means by which we are saved. And, according to the Bible we are saved by faith in Jesus. And becuase of our faith in Jesus, the promised Messiah, we are heirs of Abraham.

Abraham was made righteous in the God’s eyes becuase of His faith, and everyone who trusts in Jesus by faith belongs to the household of God, or the family of God.

The family of God is known as the church of the living God. Getting the gospel right brings the eternal blessings of God to bear.

Paul told Timothy to guard the deposit… the gospel is valuable, so valuable that everything in life is supposed to be about it.

Jesus told a couple of parables about the value of the gospel and His Kingdom in Matthew 13:44-46

[44] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

[45] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, [46] who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The deposit, or treasure of the Gospel, demands that you make your whole life about Jesus.

The deposit, or treasure of the gospel, demands that the teaching of the church should be all about Jesus.

Those who teach must be equipped to take the Word of God and explain it relative to Jesus.

My friend David in Chattanooga, TN wrote a book a while back called your Old Testament sermon needs to get saved. He wrote it because of how often the Old Testament is taught separately from the truth about Jesus. If the whole Bible is one big story, then we must make sure that we keep the central person in the story connected to what we say and do.

The deposit, or treasure of the gospel, demands that we reject and avoid all attempts to distort or teach something different than the Biblical message of Jesus Christ.

Holding fast to the truth means that we personally reject false teaching and that we correct and challenge false teaching in the church.

it also means that we equip those who are called to teach the truth.

the more you know the truth, the more you will recognize false teaching when you hear it.

Unlike the the idea that you bury treasure to protect it, the church has been called to proclaim the gospel as a means of protection.

Jesus said in the sermon on the mount,

[13] “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. [14] “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. [15] Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [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.” - Matthew 5:13-16

The church cannot put the light out, the church must stay salty… our purpose is not just to protect the gospel, it is also to proclaim the gospel and participate in the gospel.

how do we participate in the gospel? The deposit, or treasure of the gospel, creates a family that we belong to.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 tells us that the church is the household of God. The church is a family created by the saving work of Christ. We protect the gospel as a family. We proclaim the gospel as a family, and we participate in the gospel as a family.

What is our family about? Our family of faith is about Jesus… and if we hold to the good confession, the mystery of godliness, then we belong to God and to one another. We are accountable to one another, we encourage one another, we pray for one another, we serve one another, we love one another.

The proclaiming of the gospel is supposed to accompany the demonstrative of the gospel in the way that we live for God and love one another.

The church, the household of God, the church of the living God tells the world with our words and our actions that…

Jesus + Nothing = Everything

Riches? Don’t need them

Social status? Don’t need it

Material belongings?

Keeping the law?

Performing better than others?

other religions and philosophies?

“new” and contrary teachings on the Bible?

Timothy was charged with rejecting the false teachers and then teaching what was true.

We must avoid the babble and things that contradict the truth of Scripture.

No matter how nuanced any idea, truth, or different doctrine is; if it doesn’t line up with the truth and teaching of the apostles it is dangerously false.

Different doctrines that are close to the truth are actually an eternity away from being right.

The church, and the Christian, are called to protect and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ?

We order our lives around Him and His Word.

We order our church around Him and His Word.

We order our plans and our priorities around Him and His Word.

Where are you in relationship to Christ?

Commit- personal acceptance of the charge

Commit- sharing the gospel with a specific person

Commit- protecting the gospel