Guard the Deposit

Paul's final charge to Timothy is to guard the deposit entrusted to him and to avoid irreverent babble and the contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. The Levites guarded the tabernacle, and Adam was placed in the garden to keep it but let the unclean in. The deposit is the gospel, the Scriptures, and the flock, and the pastor is an under-shepherd. Christ, the true King and Shepherd, guards his church through faithful ministry. Paul's letter ends as it began: "Grace be with you."