Guard 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.” ()

CONTEXT 1:6–14 Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel.

Paul must have received word that Timothy was facing steep challenges. He writes to urge Timothy to stand his ground.

1:13 What you heard from me. Timothy had been Paul’s ministry partner for over a decade. pattern of sound teaching.

This is more than information; it is enlivened “with faith and love in Christ Jesus,” which is how Timothy should keep it.

Notice this: Paul puts forward the triune God: the Father has entrusted him with the ministry of Jesus Christ and he is kept by the power of the Holy Spirit.

1:13 sound teaching (or words). This theme runs throughout the Pastoral Letters ( note; 6:3; ; ), although only here does Paul indicate that these health-imparting words are arranged in a “pattern”—a system of interlocking and related truths.

Every father has a protective instinct right? I particularly do not like big dogs that are aggressive.

If one came after me, I’d run. If one came after my child, I would fight the dog to the death!

But what does that have to do with being a pastor? There are many things that a pastor does. There are:

There are

sermons to preach,

bible studies to prepare,

sick members to visit,

burdens of leadership and administration to bear.

And yet God has called pastors to a unique role, one they bear not just for their local churches but for the kingdom of God.

Pastors are called to be guardians of the truth.

And like a father protecting his daughter from attack, this calling requires courageous, sacrificial action.

A pastor must care for his people, yes, but it means guarding them and guarding the truth by protecting them from false teaching.

It means helping them understand and grow in the good news of God’s word.

Why is this the first thing I mention? Because if we lose the truth, we have nothing left to give our people.

How does this apply in our homes? How does this apply as the men who serve in the church?

The doctrines and beliefs of the church, rooted in the Scriptures, are the lifeblood of the church.

If we fail to guard the truth, the good deposit of God’s word, nothing else will matter.

In the O.T. God preserved for His people His word, His covenant promises, and His revealed character through a few faithful kings, prophets, and scribes throughout the generations. He did this so that when the promised Messiah would come, His people would know and recognize Him.

The Messiah, Jesus

Sadly, when the Messiah finally came as the prophets had foretold, his people did not recognize him. In fact, their hard hearts and deaf ears led them to misunderstand who the Messiah was and what his purposes in deliverance were. Expecting a warrior-king who would destroy the Roman occupiers, they were not looking for a spiritual teacher who would be crucified on a cross. Jesus was a living example of what it means to guard and embody the truth of God.

Jesus fulfilled all that the prophets had spoken and was the perfect sacrifice who saved his people from their sins ().

Jesus was more than a steward of the truth; he was the truth ().

He was the Word made flesh, come to dwell among us ().

He came to usher in the kingdom of God () through his life, death, and resurrection. After his resurrection, in a conversation with two discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained his unique role in God’s redemptive plan: “ ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” ().

In the midst of their confusion and discouragement, Jesus speaks to his disciples and reveals that he is the one whose person and work fulfill the truth proclaimed by Moses and the prophets throughout the ages. As the risen Savior, he now possesses all authority on heaven and earth () to declare the truth about God, His covenant promises, and His plan of redemption.

Guardians of the Gospel

Jesus soon ascends to his Father, but he leaves the apostles with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit and commends them as the sole stewards of the truth of the gospel. He commands them to be his witnesses on earth (). In this role, the apostles commit their time and energy to “prayer and the ministry of the word” (6:4). The book of Acts contains the account of how the early church is built, recording the faithful stewardship of the apostles doing the very things Jesus has commanded them to do. We see how the Holy Spirit powerfully works in and through them. And we are introduced to the apostle Paul, a converted enemy of the church who has a significant role in raising up and training a new generation of leaders to guard the gospel truth.

In his letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul gives a summary of this call. To Timothy he writes, “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you” ().

Look at . What’s Paul tell Timothy to do?

Let Timothy be a teacher. Even more, let him produce teachers!

Paul hands the gospel-torch to Timothy, who, in turn, must pass it on to others.

The deposit which was entrusted to Timothy (; ) must be deposited with trustworthy men.

They must be men, moreover, who will be qualified to teach others (cf. ), so that

these others as well as their teachers will have been instructed in God’s redemptive truth.

Timothy was to be one of those who were to carry on the task of spreading the gospel and teaching people how to live in God’s ways.

So it was vital that the sound teaching of the Christian faith should be preserved. It was to be kept pure and secure (1:13, 14).

It must not be added to, or detracted from, in any way; the apostle’s doctrine must be kept free from all contamination.

No aspect of its truth was to be watered down.

The simple gospel message must be safeguarded so that it could be passed on through each of the succeeding generations.

This same command—to guard the gospel—is also seen in Paul’s letter to the young pastor Titus. Paul writes to Titus and tells him to appoint godly, biblically qualified leaders in Crete () for the very same reasons he wrote to Timothy. Titus is commanded to appoint pastors (elders) in every city who do what? See

Paul explains to Titus that these are men who will distort and oppose the trustworthy message of the gospel (1:10–16).

From these examples, we learn that guardians of the gospel of Jesus Christ have a twofold purpose: to hold firmly to the faithful word and to refute those who would contradict it.

Pastors are the appointed guardians of God’s truth, and above all else they must hold firm to it, boldly refuting those who come against it and passing it on to the next generation of appointed guardians.

Here are some of the truths that we are all to uphold and defend!

Guarding the Truth in Ministry

The gospel is the good news of Jesus. And it is good news about Jesus, the story of what God has done from beginning to end to create, save, and bless a people who are His own.

It is the truth that God created everything good and perfect, and that through Adam and Eve, sin entered the world.

Human sin affects everything now, including those created in God’s image.

Human beings are born into this world as sinners, cut off from God with no hope to save ourselves, no hope of being reconciled to God by our own efforts.

The gospel is the good news that God in His mercy does not leave us in our hopeless condition, but sent his only Son, Jesus, to rescue us, redeem us, and restore us to relationship with God.

Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died an atoning death on the cross for sinners, thus bearing the wrath of God in their place.

Three days later, he rose from the grave, conquering death, and now sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling over the nations and waiting to return for his bride, the church.

Anyone who turns from their sins, believes, and trusts in Jesus Christ alone by faith is rescued from the wrath to come, forgiven of all their sins, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus, and adopted as a child of the living God.

All of this is a gift of God’s grace.

This is the truth of the gospel, and for nearly two thousand years this message has been entrusted to those who follow Christ—particularly pastors.

Defend the Authority of All Scripture

The gospel is the good news of Jesus, which reveals how the redemptive plan of God throughout history culminates in the coming of Jesus. And as essential as it is to guard the gospel message, this doesn’t mean we should neglect the other teachings of Scripture that relate to and flow out of the gospel. We need to uphold the sound words of the apostles’ teaching, and this means teaching on the entirety of Scripture—what we know as the Old and New Testaments. Paul writes that “all Scripture is God-breathed,” indicating it is inspired by God, and Paul adds that it “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” ().

In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul refers to the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament), noting that the examples of Israel’s disobedience “were written down as warnings for us” (). Guarding the truth means recognizing that we need to instruct from the Old and New Testaments. The whole counsel of God is God’s authoritative, inerrant, infallible word. Let me offer three ways I try to do this:

We try to preach through entire books of the bible. This forces us to deal with even the “hard” texts of Scripture.

But if you are committed to preaching through books of the Bible and your people know it is your commitment, you cannot dance around difficult passages.

Preaching through entire books provides a balanced diet of biblical exposition for your church, and at the same time it defends the authority and value of the whole Bible.

2. We try to preach a balance of both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Though that balance is off at times, the goal is to uphold the whole of the Bible before our people so they understand that all of it is profitable for teaching, correction, and training.

3. We try to read from both the Old Testament and the New Testament in each gathering in worship.

This is to show how the Bible fits together as one book—one redemptive story. These simple efforts, done well over time, will effectively train people in understanding their Bible and in coming to cherish all of it as a gift from God. In doing this, pastors teach their people how to guard the truth.

We must be vigilant in all our gatherings to safeguard and assure that there’s biblical instruction being provided. Not just in the pulpit but that in takes deep root in the culture of our church as we regularly seek to evaluate everything that we do by the standard of Scripture.

Watch Over the Flock

In addition to providing public biblical instruction as a means of guarding doctrine, pastors and church leaders must guard the truth by exercising discipline as they exhort people to the true practice of their faith. Peter exhorts pastors to watch over the flock as a function of shepherding (), and this means a pastor is to oversee that God’s word is taught and preached and that it serves as the standard for the practice of the church in its day-to-day operations. Although often disconnected from the call of shepherding, this task is a key component of guarding the truth. Though some of this responsibility is delegated to other church leaders [deacon(s) and other leaders], ultimately those who are pastors must maintain oversight over the entire church.

Pastors watch over the flock as they administrate.

This includes:

Caring for souls

Equipping leaders

Discipling members

Reaching the lost through evangelistic efforts, and

Being stewards of the church’s resources

What are the causes of dysfunctional behavior and practices in a local church?

If we were to look back at the history of this church would we find:

Internal Conflicts

A string of pastors with

Patterns of moral failings

Dictator-style leadership

Financial dishonesty

Theological vagueness

A lack of clarity on the gospel

Lack of commitment to the Scriptures as the word of God

Within two generations of unfaithful shepherds not committed to guarding the truth will cause any local church to crumble.

To see people walking in the truth and their lives being transformed will not happen because of a particular strategy, or trendy program, or my own leadership charisma, it will simply be the fruit of God word that will bring new spiritual life.

Today, nearly two thousand years after Christ’s ascension, Christ’s church has been established throughout the world. And by God’s grace, it will continue to grow and expand as faithful men are entrusted with the truth and raise up the next generation do to the same. A pastor’s primary, instinctive calling must be to guard the good deposit and entrust that truth to other reliable men. The priorities of a pastor’s life and ministry can be filled with many good labors, but all of these must be grounded in and driven by the stewardship of the truth of God, the gospel of Jesus, and the whole of Scripture. If pastors and church leaders fail to do this, they will end up building their lives and ministries on things that will not last. If we lose the truth, we have nothing left. But if we guard the truth and make it the lifeblood of our ministry, we labor in the work that the Spirit empowers and through which he breathes life to our souls and the souls of our people.