Guard the Deposit (Gospel) – 1 Timothy 6: 20-21

What this episode covers

Scroll to 29:45 for the Sermon 1 Timothy 6:20-21 The next generation of American citizens understood the sacrifice that allows us to be free. This was a group of Christian people, the sacrifice that allows us to have the free exercise of religious conscience and freedom of expression. And so we went to the monuments, but we also went to Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands as one of our nation’s most solemn symbols. It’s a soldier that is always present, 24/7, 365 days a year, and if anybody has ever been to Washington, D.C., you know that it can get to be about 120 degrees with humidity in the summertime, and on the occasion, it can get down below zero in the wintertime. But that soldier, that sentinel, is always present in the blazing heat, the freezing snow, and the pouring rain. Their constant vigil represents our commitment as a nation. The sacrifice of the unknown soldier will never be forgotten. That guard there is a visible reminder of respect, of vigilance, and of duty. And I was watching that soldier in his vigilance on the day we were there, and I thought about And I thought about Paul’s letter to Timothy, and how that picture provided such a striking metaphor for Paul’s charge to Timothy, guard that which has been entrusted to you. Guard the deposit entrusted to you, and we can go to the next slide now, and I’ll put up the Bible passage that we’re going to talk about today. You know, oh Timothy, oh Timothy, guard that which has been entrusted to you. Guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble, how much babble do we hear in society today? How much irreverence do we hear in society? 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. So here Paul is contrasting a real treasure, the true treasure, that is the very words of God, the good news that Jesus brings us, the gospel, he’s contrasting that true treasure, a godly life, eternal reward, with false treasure. The kind of thing that when you’re just pursuing wealth, or you are just running down some philosophical road of untruth, Timothy’s charged with, and he’s been entrusted with, guarding the gospel against distortions. So Timothy is charged here to guard the entrusted gospel against distortions, and what I want to do is I want to go through this verse, almost word by word, and he starts out and he says, oh Timothy, and you know, when we’re studying our Bible and we’re reading our Bible, we can kind of just skip that little word, oh, but Paul’s being, it’s a big deal here, Paul’s saying, oh Timothy, oh Timothy. It’s conveying, I think, a combination, in the Greek you can look at these definitions in the Greek and the understanding of what the context was in the Greek, and it’s conveying an idea of urgency and affection, so this combination that, I’ve got something real important to put you in charge of, but I’m going to do it with affection, because I’m going to call you to a really hard thing. So, I’m going to say, oh Timothy. So you are, with affection, being called to an urgent matter. I think of the book of Jude, contend for the faith, Jude says, and he says, I’d rather be out there teaching the good news, I’d rather be out there sharing the gospel, but in Jude, Jude says, I find it necessary, though, to tell you that there’s some bigger deal happening right now, you’ve got to get out there and contend for the faith, it’s something similar that Paul is telling Timothy here, he’s saying, I’m calling you, Timothy, to do something really big, because it’s urgent that you guard that which has been entrusted to you. What does it mean to guard the deposit here? You know, the word guard in scripture, guard the deposit entrusted to you, let’s start with the deposit, that’s referring to the gospel message itself, the very words of God, sound doctr

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