A Sacred Trust
And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. What you have heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you 2 Timothy 1:12-14
Paul is again in prison. His life will soon end. He appeals to Timothy to be loyal – to Christ, to himself and to his own ministry.
Just before the verses above Paul has called on Timothy to fan into flame the gift in him (1:6). The ground of Paul’s appeal is the Holy Spirit – given by God to him and who now empowers him.
The ‘deposit’ is the gospel itself (1:9,10). Paul reminds Timothy of his (Paul’s) own loyalty to this gospel and of God’s commitment to guard what has been committed to Him until the final day (1:11,12). Paul may be referring to his life or his commitment to Christ and the gospel.
He now calls on Timothy to ‘guard the deposit’ (1:14). “Timothy,” Paul urges, “keep safe what I have deposited into your life as a sacred trust.” The ‘deposit’ is ‘the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus’ (1:13). He must not allow it to be eroded by false teachings.
But he doesn’t have to do this on his own. This responsibility will be fulfilled ‘with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in you’ (1:14).
Paul’s call has gone full circle. He began by urging Timothy to fan into flame his ministry gift, which was given by the power of the Holy Spirit. Timothy was then urged to be loyal to the gospel itself, and to Paul, even though he was in prison. After detailing the gospel and his own loyalty to it, Paul again returned to urge Timothy to be loyal to his own ministry and to the gospel, and again to do so with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Do you treat your knowledge of the gospel as a sacred trust, not in the sense of hiding it but guarding it from false teachings designed to undermine its authority? Do you support those who share the gospel openly with real prayer, moral and even financial help?
When you hear of Christians genuinely suffering for their witness do you pray for them and support ministries that can practically support them?
These are the areas Paul wanted Timothy to be actively doing.
To listen to this message, download in MP3 here.