Amen. Remain standing for the reading of the Word this morning, this afternoon, this evening from 1 Timothy 6. 1 Timothy 6.20 will be my text, but I'm going to read the large portion of 2 Timothy 1 first, and then we'll come back to the text in 1 Timothy 6. Now hear the Word of the Lord. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, my dearly beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day. greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that is in thee also. Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner. But be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, who hath saved us, and hath called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, But according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who have abolished death and have brought had brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, where into I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the witch cause, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou has heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus, that good thing which was committed unto the keep by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us. And my text that I'm going back to is the closing words of his first epistle in Timothy 6 chapter verse 20, which says, Oh, Timothy, keep that which was committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science, falsely so-called, which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be unto thee. Amen. Let's pray. Our gracious heavenly Father, how thankful we are for the blessed, glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. That good news of the saving grace of our God, which is brought by beautiful feet, which beautifies everything that it touches, which gives us the beautiful worship, shows us a beautiful God. And that glorious gospel that has been entrusted to us. We pray your spirit would guide us and empower your word now into our minds and weave it into the fabric of our lives. We would be faithful stewards of that good deposit. And we pray that you would convict us and show us and challenge us and make us ever mindful of the great battle that we're in to preserve and protect and to keep that glorious gospel. And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. As we conclude a wonderful week together of another year of Presbytery, I want to exhort us all to guard that good deposit that has been entrusted to you. Paul calls this gospel or this deposit, the gospel, this glorious news of Jesus Christ in the opening of this first epistle to this young pastor. And as we begin a wonderful week together, hearing on the worship of Wednesday night, A call to worship the Almighty God in a transcendent universe that He has created. We can enter into a glorious throne room which our eyes can't see, but through the eyes of faith we can behold. And we can see God in all of His splendor and majesty. And we come to worship Him in the beauty of holiness. Because the gospel is a beautiful news. And then we heard how even that we can come in difficult times to sorrow at the foot of the cross because of the beautiful gospel gives us hope. We saw a beautiful picture of our Lord Christ on the apex of his earthly ministry. Demonstrating his great love. As we heard Mark bring a wonderful message on feet first. And then we heard a challenge from Job 42 and looking at the transcendence of this great, majestic, all-wise God as He resets Job's sights back upon Him so that not only Job would hear His voice that he had been longing through the entire trial to hear, but through the eyes of faith he saw Him. These are beautiful and transcendent things and it's made possible because of the gospel. Tonight I want to close our time together and exhort us all as we go back to our churches and to our homes and to our families to guard that good deposit which was entrusted to you. Guard it. Because there will be threats against it. Paul's chief concern was the gospel. As I have studied through all of Paul's epistles, there is the gospel, which is his chief concern, and how it affects every part of life. But with every teaching of the gospel, there was a false gospel, or a false teaching, or a threat against that glorious gospel. And so in every epistle, Paul was working to set the rightness of the gospel, and he was addressing the wrongness of those threatening doctrines that jeopardize its beauty. There was such a pattern of this throughout the epistles. I am convinced, though I understand the spiritual warfare against the gospel and the chief aim of our enemy against the people of God, Now I am convinced that it is true for every single church throughout all of church history and every congregation that has ever existed that preaches the gospel, that there is a threat against the gospel. There are false teachings, false understandings and worldviews. And what was true for all of the congregations in church history is true for every congregation in the CPC. There is a threat to the gospel in your church. What's often true for the corporate entity of the church is also true for the individual. And so there's a threat to the gospel in every one of our lives. And we're to guard and keep that good deposit. We need to learn to say yes to the things of the gospel and no to everything else that has the potential to destroy the gospel. We need to guard that good deposit that God has entrusted to us. Paul took three letters addressed to two pastors in the hearing of the entire church to emphasize this quintessential truth. Guard the good deposit that makes these things beautiful. As we consider guarding the good deposit, I would like for us to consider five points that Paul gave to Timothy and Titus in these pastoral epistles. and guarding this deposit. To guard the good deposit entrusted to us, we must first become experts in the truth to the best of our ability. We should ever be learning about this glorious gospel. We will never exhaust the amount of truth of this gospel That's why Paul tells him in II Timothy 3.13, But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. We must know the gospel that makes us wise into salvation. Damnable heresies are not very far from orthodoxy. Evil men within the church and imposters will rise up being deceived themselves and also deceiving. And we must have a love for the truth in order to discern the false. Because many today know more what they are against than what they truly are for. Men, we need to be men and women who are for the gospel. How much more helpful we can be to others to help them if we just knew more of the gospel We must ever be growing in our understanding to become experts to the best of our ability and giftedness. So that we can connect the dots in all of life from our total depravity all the way through the continuity to our endurance by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. We know so little about the nature of our depravity. We're so quick to embrace other diagnosis of human problems. We're so proud and hard hearted. Distracted that we would rather be diagnosed by psychologists than a minister or instructed by the Internet than the word. And Paul knew these dangers even in his own day, and he would exhort Timothy to keep focused on becoming a wise master builder. In 1 Timothy 4.13, he says, Till I come, give attention to the reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by the prophecy of the laying on the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them. That your progress may be evident unto all. Take heed unto yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. The very gospel that we continue to learn and grow in is the very means of our salvation, as well as those to whom we minister and we must continue to learn it to become experts in it to the best of our ability. To guard the gospel, we must love orthodoxy. The second thing that Timothy points out in these epistles, in order to guard the gospel, we must have an unashamed fidelity. He says, therefore, be thou therefore, do not be therefore unashamed or be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me His prisoner. But be partakers of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God." Folks, in order to guard the gospel, we cannot be ashamed to testify about our Lord Jesus Christ. And to stand for Christ is costly. He warned us it will be costly. To be doctrinally accurate and apply sound orthodoxy to people and the world around you will cost you a great deal. The reason why sound doctrine is so important is so that the lenses of our theological spectacles can be clear to see the differences between truth and error. And these things are about being unashamed of the gospel. But these matters of being ashamed or unashamed are about matters of being ashamed or unashamed of Jesus Christ. We are concerned about the truth because Christ is the truth, because we are utterly devoted to our Lord Jesus and we want to be unashamed of him. My fidelity to Christ is most tested when the word is most demeaned and the gospel most threatened. Battles for truth in your church will test your unashamed fidelity. In order to guard this good deposit that He's entrusted to us, we must learn to be experts to the best of our ability in the truth. We must have an unashamed fidelity and testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. But third, we must guard the good deposit. We have to understand that the gospel has a shape to it. He tells Timothy in the latter part of the passage that I read to hold fast to the form or the pattern of sound words, which thou has heard of me in faith and in love, which is in Christ Jesus, that good thing which was committed unto the keep. By the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us. Commentaries are not really sure what Paul had in mind when. He alluded to this shape or this form of sound words. Some think it might be some model or some norm or perhaps even some creed or formula. Whatever exactly it was, he's saying that the Gospel is a coherent whole. It has a shape to it. The shape informs us of the truth of God. And that truth of God shapes the glorious Gospel, which produces sound doctrine, which then brings forth godly living. The Gospel shapes and molds us with the whole of Scriptures. And that's why there's always a direct connection of those dots between the Gospel and the life that it produces. It's not merely that we understand a set of propositional truths. But the Gospel is a life to live. It's a Savior to experience. It's a relationship in love. The Gospel is Christ. And this shape of the Gospel will help us to discern the threats. Is my life heading in a direction that is compatible with the shape of the gospel? In our circles, we think about and talk on the doctrine of the Scriptures, and there's a theological phrase called the analogy of the faith, where we interpret Scriptures by comparing them with the whole corpus of the body of which the Scriptures primarily teach. But here, perhaps, Paul is thinking about the analogy of a life where we compare our life with the whole corpus of truth to see if it's heading in the right direction, to see if it's compatible with the shape and the form of the gospel. And that's an important way to guard the good deposit that he's entrusted to you. Hold fast to the pattern of sound words. So to guard the good deposit, he is exhorting us all, not just ministers, but all of us to be experts to the extent that we can of the truth and to love the truth and to love orthodoxy. To have an unashamed fidelity. For the testimony of Jesus Christ. And to understand that the gospel has a shape to it. Fourthly, we must discern the threats to the gospel. Because having a deep love for Christ will give us an intense disdain for the threats that come. From keeping people away from it. And the threats will come in different packages, they will come in different forms, but the threats will always be there. You know, when you think about the garden, when God put man in the garden, and He put man in the garden before the fall to keep it. There's an implication, there's already going to be danger even before the fall happened, and man was given to take dominion and to keep and protect the garden. And here's the same idea that we are to protect and keep the good garden. and the deposit. Paul called this a constant battle in the life of the believer. He was telling Timothy in 1 Timothy 1 18. He says wage the good warfare in 1 Timothy 6 12. Fight the good fight of faith. 2 Timothy 2 3. Endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 2 forward. No one engaged in warfare entangleth himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. We have to discern the threats to the gospel and be good soldiers, knowing that we are in a constant battle. And you better be mindful that you're in the battle. So you take the right weapons and you use them, not in the arm of the flesh, but in the spirit. In Paul's day, the threats he identified to Timothy would include things like the fables and endless genealogies in 1 Timothy 1-4. Or some ascetic practices and dietary and food trends of his day in 1 Timothy 4-3. Or profane in wives' fables in 1 Timothy 4-7, or the useless wranglings of men in 1 Timothy 6-5. Profane and idle babblings, 1 Timothy 6-20. See, these are the kinds of things that people took their time in the church doing. They did not have a form or the pattern of sound doctrine. They were actually a threat to it. And Paul speaks in 1 Timothy 4, 1 and 2 of doctrines of demons. We're talking about in the church, inside the church. Doctrines of demons are teachings that either pervert the gospel. Or distract away from the gospel. Sometimes it's merely an emphasis of a person's life or an emphasis of a church. D. Martin Lloyd-Jones would say you judge a ministry by its emphasis. Because while there may be a lot of good things, if the good thing has such an emphasis to it and puts it out of the balance of the whole, it can distort the gospel. We need to take an inventory of our lives and of our churches. To consider what teachings, what trends, what practices, what focus, what emphasis, perhaps. There may be that is causing a threat to the gospel that may be distracting. That if left unchecked becomes a cancer and begins to eat through the entire body. 2 Timothy 2.16, But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their message will spread like cancer. A false understanding in our lives are problems that if they are not stopped can spread like cancer and overtake the body. The very things that we come here and we celebrate and we're called to worship and all what has made this thing beautiful is this gospel, and it's been a beautiful week with beautiful people and a beautiful God and beautiful worship. And do not presume or take that for granted, but go and defend the good deposit which has been entrusted to you. For beauty. Calvin and his institutes keeps coming back to a litmus test of theology when he says, does this fit with a saving Christ? Does this fit with a saving Christ? One of the ways that we can discern the threat of the gospel is to see the fruit of the bad doctrine, sometimes long before we actually understand it. There are four things that he points out in these pastoral epistles to give us a heads up of false teaching, even before we understand it, but we're seeing something of the fragrance or the stench of it. He says, 1 Timothy 1, 4, and will give heed to fables or endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification, which is in the faith. One of those fruits of bad teaching or bad understanding or false doctrine is it creates controversies. And there's going to be controversies in our assemblies. We're talking about characteristic controversies. You don't want your church to be known. You don't want your life to be known. You don't want your family to be characteristic of controversy. rather than the godly edification of the faith. There is such thing as a spirit of controversy and that comes from bad doctrine. Even if you aren't understanding You can see the fruit of it. A second evidence or fruit of bad doctrine or false teaching is that it destroys the conscience and it robs one of true liberty and joy. First, Timothy 118. Wage the good warfare, having faith in a good conscience, which some have rejected concerning the faith has suffered shipwreck. Of whom Haman is an Alexander. See, the gospel always informs and it instructs, it builds up a good conscience and a strong conscience which produces greater liberty and greater joy and greater peace. The very thing that false doctrines rob. A third evidence of the fruit of false doctrine is divisiveness in the body. He tells Titus in chapter 3, 9, but avoid foolish disputes and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the law. They are unprofitable and useless. Reject the divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, self-condemned. Where there is strife and divisiveness in the fellowship, there's fruit somewhere behind it. Of some false beliefs and false understanding, it maligns the shape of the gospel. And a fourth fruit is it robs people. Of the joy and of the truth so that they stray away from the faith and they're pierced through with many sorrows. First Timothy 610 for some strayed from the faith and their greediness pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So when you see bad fruit, somewhere behind the bad fruit that Paul was explaining to Timothy is some thinking, some worldview, some beliefs, some presuppositions, some false things that threaten the gospel. And be aware of those things, even sometimes before you understand the thinking behind them. So we have to become experts in the truth, and we have to have an unashamed fidelity. We have to understand that the gospel has a shape to it, and we have to see and understand there are threats to it, and know how to discern those threats. But fifth, to guard the good deposit, we have to protect the messenger. The way that Paul put this, keep that which is entrusted to you. would be literally to protect that which is deposited in you. Because the gospel is a living and powerful truth, the enemy will have his most intense focus on those vessels who have been entrusted with a good deposit. To damage the container can harm the contents. And that's why we hear an older pastor exhorting a younger pastor so earnestly in these few pages of scripture when he would tell Paul or Paul would tell Timothy to guard the good deposit. He says, Timothy, do not breach your conscience in these things. Timothy, give yourself entirely to these things. O man of God, flee corruption, pursue righteousness and godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Timothy, stir up the gift that is in you. Hold fast to the pattern, the shape of sound doctrine. Be strong in the grace that is in the Lord Jesus. Endure hardship. Flee youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Continue in the things that you have learned. Be watchful in all things. Endure afflictions." These would be some of the last words the Apostle Paul would write. These are the last words we have of his that have been inspired. He would die shortly after he wrote this to Timothy. So if you were going to give your last words as a minister to a young minister, knowing that he will have to guard the good deposit, how earnest are these pleas and these imperatives. Timothy, guard the good deposit and in guarding it, it will guard your own soul. Give yourself entirely to these things. So we need to be experts to the extent that we can and just love the truth. To have an unashamed fidelity for the gospel, the Lord Himself. To understand the gospel has a form and a shape to it. Is my life compatible with this? Be aware of the threats. Learn to discern the evidence of false teaching, even when you don't understand the details behind it. And protect the messenger. Protect the vessel which has been entrusted with that good deposit. It's going to cost you. But the fruit of the gospel is worth it. Because in describing the good fruit of the gospel, Paul uses terms like healthiness, and rigor, and joy, and peace, and life, and beauty, and vibrancy. And have we not experienced the good fruit of the gospel among us this week? The hymn singing was over last night, Peter. The last one was finished. And many went to their places. And then a whole bunch came over here and continued singing for hours of the glory of God. It wasn't orchestrated, but it's because they wanted to. And when you see your children singing for hours, The message of the gospel, unprompted, but because they want to. Folks, that is beautiful. And that's what you have to protect for our children's sake. So, as Paul would say in Ephesians chapter 4, is that our children would not be blown about by every wind of doctrine, but growing up into one new man. The beauty that we have enjoyed, the fruit of the goodness of the gospel, the shape of it that's formed. And we're seeing this week is not to be presumed upon, but we must be proactive. And guarding that good deposit. One day. All the costs that you've paid for being faithful. Unashamed. Going to be worth it. As Paul tells Timothy, look, if you continue in them, you'll save yourself. And the others. Can you imagine if you're a pastor that you're just trying to get yourself and your people safely on the other side of Jordan? Just getting them safely there. to the glory of God in Jesus Christ, humanly speaking. I want to be a glory one day when you know it's all of grace and you're standing there and you're overhearing God in the judgment, looking down upon one of the souls and the sheep He's put in your care. And He's there and you hear the words echoing over and thundering Well done, thou good and faithful servant. And you're there before the judgment seat, and you're just thankful that the truth of the gospel, which is preserved in you, is preserved in them. And what a glory it's going to be that day. People. We labor and we give our lives for the fruit. For the glory of our dear Savior. And we have to guard that good deposit for the next year so that we can come back next year in Iowa and see all the more fruit and all the more shape of the gospel that has brought all the beauty with it that we can enjoy the presence of God and the glorious splendor of His majesty. Guard the good deposit. Let's pray. Our gracious Father, How deep and wonderful are the thoughts that you've taken vessels of clay and entrusted in them the eternal treasure of the glorious gospel. And we pray that you would, by your Spirit, keep and guard these things according to the means that you have given. making us valiant soldiers, trusting in the means that You have given to us, in the armament in which we are to fight. And that we would gird up the loins of our mind and that we would put on all of that implements. And that we would trust You and that we would have the salvation in our hearts and in our lives and that we would guard it You would give us discernment where the dangers and the threats lie. And that with our own lives we might be unashamed and guardians and protected. For the sake of our glorious Savior who gave Himself for us and has shown us all this beauty. And we pray this in His name. Amen.