Welcome back to Tabernacle Tidbits. Today, we are in 2 Timothy chapter 1, and we are in verse number 14.
The Apostle Paul, in his last letter that he would pen of an inspired scripture, he's writing to his protege Timothy. He's encouraging him. He's telling him, I want to see you again.
I know that what God has placed in you, in the gospel, the training, the word that you have grown up knowing through the influence of your grandmother and your mother. I know that all of that is there for you and that God has wonderful plans for you.
He talks a little bit about himself, about his purpose, his drive with having been given so much through the Lord that he wants to continue to proclaim that to others. And then in verse number 14, he tells Timothy this.
After he tells him, hold on to the pattern of good teaching that you've heard from me, he says, guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Now, certainly, first question is, okay, well, what is the good deposit?
Because it's not expressly named in that verse. And of course, from the context, we would know this good deposit is the gospel. It is that eternal life that the Lord gives us.
And he tells Timothy, I want you to guard this. This would be the Greek word phyloso. This would be to carry out sentinel functions.
This would be to guard someone. This would be to protect by taking careful measures, to be on one's guard against, to hold and reserve, to keep it, to say this belongs to someone.
This would be to continue to keep a law or commandment from being broken, to observe or to follow. And so those are the kinds of things that this particular word means. It is this, God has given you the Gospel.
He has given you eternal life. So what do you do with it? Do you just take it for granted?
Do you ignore it? Do you just say, okay, well, I've got it. And because it was freely given to me through the righteousness of Christ, I don't really have to like do anything with this.
And what Paul tells Timothy is no, you are a guard of that Gospel. You are a guard of that life that God has given. And it's not that it'll sneak away from you if you're not watching it.
But he says, actually, in our Psalms study, in Book 3 of Psalms, we've been walking through several times where the psalmist will mention the cherubim or the seraphim, those throne room guardians of the Lord, that they are there.
They are attending to God. But it's not as though God, like, needs them there. He doesn't need any protection.
He doesn't need anyone to be standing there. But they are there because that is their purpose. And so I think right here, we guard this good deposit of the gospel.
We stand by. We are at attention. We do our actions in light of the fact that we have a purpose.
Because we have received the gospel, there are things that we shouldn't do. Because we have received the gospel, there are places that we shouldn't go. There are tones that we should not speak in.
There are actions that we should do. Because we don't belong to us, we have been given this treasure.
You know, if my sister gives me her three kids to watch for a night while she and her husband go on a date, or if they're going on a trip, I think this summer they're going to a Bible camp with the teens from their youth group.
And so, if she gives those kids to me, there are places that I just won't go, or things that I just won't do. I'm not going skydiving with a couple month old and a two year old and a three year old. I'm not going to do that.
That would not be a wise choice. My actions change because of what I am in charge of, because of what I am guarding. And so it is with the Gospel.
And I want to ask you today, because you are a Christian, how is that going to affect how you live your life today? And then I do want to end just with this other thought from the end of the verse.
Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Because we have God's presence dwelling within us, that ought to spark joy. It ought to spark a desire for holiness within our life that we don't just do whatever we want to do.
We don't just say whatever we want to say. We realize if God himself lives inside of me and loves me and cares for me enough to want to be a part of my life, then that means that I need to like live my life the way that he would want me to.
It is an incredible privilege to have the Lord in our life. Let's act like it's a privilege. Let it change who we are.
Because that's the whole reason why we came to the Lord. Because we recognized that he is the ideal. He is the perfect one.
He is the one that we are pursuing. And so we're not just gonna live our life in the way that we would anymore. Instead, let's live in light of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
So today, will you guard the good deposit of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit who lives in you? Thanks for tuning in. See you in verse number 15 tomorrow.
