2 Timothy: Guard the Gospel

In this episode, we explore 2 Timothy 1:8–14. Discover what it means to pledge yourself to the gospel, boldly proclaim God's truth, and faithfully preserve the faith in a world that often opposes it. This powerful message challenges believers to stand unashamed of Christ, endure suffering with courage, and remain steadfast through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Garrival Grace Chapel Podcast where we value the expository preaching and teaching of the Word of God for the purpose of life transformation. The rest, if you have your Bible, I would encourage you to open it to the book of 2 Timothy. The book of 2 Timothy, as you know. Um, here at Grace Chapel, we value expository preaching and teaching. So we go verse by verse through text of the scripture. We are in 2 Timothy. This is our second letter, our I'm sorry, our second lesson out of this particular book. Paul endured Roman imprisonment before. But he was released. And upon his release, he went back to his missionary journeys. He evangelized, he planted churches, he raised up elders for the congregations, he put order and discipline into the local churches. But then something changed. A man named Nero came to power and he unleashed a wave of persecution against the church. Consequently, many Christians were arrested and executed. And the apostle Paul was among them. Now, as Paul was waiting in the Roman prison, he knew he was going to die. And he took the time to write his last known letter, which is 2 Timothy. Obviously, he wrote it to his protege, Timothy, and he gave him advice on how to pastor his church, and he prepared him to take the baton of leadership to lead the church into the future. And so this letter is loaded with love and advice from a pastor to his protege. And I think it's worth our study. If you have your text open, I'm reading from the English Standard Version. I will read 2 Timothy chapter 1 verses 8 through 14. 2 Timothy 1, verses 8 through 14 reads, Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me and the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. That is the reading of God's word. We could distill that passage down to one sentence. It would be as follows. Paul commanded Timothy to guard the gospel. From that we learned that Christians must guard the gospel. How can Christians guard the gospel? There are three commands to follow to guard the gospel. The first command to follow to guard the gospel is to pledge to it. Again, let's look at our text. 2 Timothy 1, verses 8 through 12. Let's read this again. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor be his prisoner. But share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our own works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. And so the first command to follow, to guard the gospel, is to pledge to it. Now that word pledge can carry, you know, several different meanings. So for the sake of this sermon, the word pledge means to commit, to commit to it. And so Paul commanded Timothy to pledge to the gospel, to commit to the gospel. And then he informed him how he can pledge to the gospel. First, Timothy can pledge it to the gospel by not being ashamed of the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember, the attitude of Rome toward Christians had taken a negative turn. And there were two reasons for this. First, Nero was in power, and Nero set fire to Rome and then blamed the Christians for the fire. And so all of a sudden, uh the Romans, who were somewhat indifferent, you know, viewed Christians suspiciously or what have you, began to have a very negative impression, a very negative attitude toward Christians because of the actions of Caesar Nero. And when that happened, the Jewish element in Rome, who hated Christ, who hated Christians, seized the opportunity to instigate Rome to persecute the Christians. And so now you had two factions that were going after the Christians. And so obviously, during that time period, it became very dangerous to show, to stand, and to show support for the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because after all, Christianity rests on the testimony of Christ. It rests on the life, the virgin birth, the life, the ministry, the death, the burial, the resurrection, the ascension of Jesus Christ. And so to associate with that in a positive manner and to promote that became very dangerous. But Paul told Timothy, if you're going to pledge to the gospel, if you're going to guard the gospel, you have to stand for the testimony of Jesus Christ. You cannot be ashamed of Jesus Christ. Secondly, Paul informed Timothy that he could pledge to the gospel by not being ashamed of Paul the prisoner. Again, just as it was dangerous to associate and to promote the doctrine of Christ and the person of Christ and all that he accomplished. It was somewhat like guilty by association. But Paul said, look, you can't be ashamed of me simply because I'm a prisoner. You must stand with me, you must pray for me. Can't turn our backs on people simply because they are suffering persecution for the name of Christ. If anything, we ought to circle the wagons and support them. Third, Timothy could pledge to the gospel by not being ashamed to suffer for it. Now, thank God our preaching in my home church. Because if I was preaching this message somewhere else, you might would run me out. But since you've heard me enough, you know where I'm going with this. The call to follow Christ is accompanied by a call to suffer for him. Does that mean that all of your Christian experience is one of suffering? No, of course not. But there are seasons in which you will suffer for the name of Christ. And the apostle Paul said, you must embrace suffering for the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason why this is important, Paul would say to Timothy, is because if you were to turn your back upon me, Paul the prisoner, and you were to somewhat, you know, try to shield the fact or hide the fact that you're Christian and that you identify with Christ in the gospel message, then what that does is that allows fear and persecution to foster, to get worse. But if you will stand for the gospel, if you'll stand for Jesus and you'll stand for the prisoners of those who've been arrested for that message, then what that does is that unleashes courage for the rest of the believers in the body of Christ. Sometimes it just needs one or two people to say, no, we're gonna take a stand here. We are planting our flag right here, and that tends to rally the troops. But when it's the opposite, when everybody runs in fear, the man, it's hard to find somebody to take a stand. And so, Timothy, this is vitally important that you pledge to the gospel, you commit to the gospel. You are not ashamed of Christ, you're not ashamed of me, the apostle, who is suffering, and you must suffer too. You must stand for us even if it costs you. Once Paul informed Timothy how he could pledge to the gospel, he then explained to him why he should pledge to the gospel. Now look at the text in 2 Timothy 1, verses 9 through 10. We start out here with an ejective clause, but it's referring to God, right? So the part says the power of God, and then we pick up here. Who saved us and called us to a holy calling. So God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And so Paul gave the reasons why Timothy should pledge to the gospel. And first, he gave him the theological reasons. This is loaded with salvation doctrine and why we should commit and pledge to Jesus Christ and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. First, Paul pointed out that Timothy and every other believer has been elected to salvation. It's clear as day, he writes, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. Before the ages began, before creation. We are saved by grace. Justice was mentioned this morning in our worship time. And the text, the phrase reads, Who saved us and called us by a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. It is simply by the grace of God. If you're trying to get to heaven on your own works, you are not going. The only way to be saved is by the grace of Almighty God. He told Timothy that he should commit to the gospel, should pledge to the gospel, because God has called us for a purpose. Again, the phrase is who saved us and called us to a holy calling? Not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. In other words, when we talk about election to salvation, it's not by random choice. This is another thing. A lot of people think, well, you know, I'm either saved by my works or I deserved it, you know, or I did something to get that salvation. Like I heard the gospel message and I was smart enough to hear and to respond. But the guy over here who keeps rejecting Christ, well, you know, he's he's just he's just not as smart as me. Hey, why did you come to faith in Christ? You're somehow smarter than the next person? No. No. The Holy Spirit dealt with you. You came to faith in Christ. And when the Holy Spirit dealt with you, it wasn't by random processes or choices. In other words, God has an infinite plan. And if you're a child of God, you are a part of it. And he has saved you and called you for a holy calling, a purpose. Which may or may not include standing behind a pulpit. It could be working in the job force, or it's a vocational calling. Wherever you are, God called you for that purpose so that you could spread the kingdom of God. So the next thing, he removed the fear of death. I love this. Now remember, Timothy is a little timid, or was a little timid. Um, but on the other side, there was the Holy Spirit power of God working in his life that gave him courage when he needed it. And one of the things that Timothy must have relied on in his life when he needed courage was this truth right here. The reason, one of the theological reasons why Timothy should pledge to the gospel, should guard the gospel, should commit to the gospel, is because Christ has removed the fear of death from the believer. He said it this way in this clause, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For a child of God, there's no fear in death, which would accord well with the understanding that with the call to come and follow Christ and to serve Christ does come with a call of suffering. But even if that suffering leads to death, there's no fear in death because all that does is usher you into the presence of Almighty God. Second, the apostle Paul gave Timothy the practical reasons for pledging to the gospel. Right? So so if you're following, if you're following the thought that Paul is laying out in the text, Timothy, you are commanded to guard the gospel. And you can guard the gospel, you can pledge to the gospel, you can commit to the gospel by not being ashamed of Christ, by not being ashamed of me, the apostle Paul, who's in prison, and not being ashamed of suffering for the cause of Christ. Timothy, here's the theological reasons why you should not be ashamed of these things. And now, here's the practical reasons why we should pledge or commit to the gospel. Here it is in 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 11 through 12. It reads, For which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Now, if you happen to read the NASB or another version translation, the end of that text may read something like this. I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to him. And I won't bore you with the the Greek and the grammatical reasons why the two different um renderings of that verse. I think that both, no matter if you say that God is able to guard, Christ is able to guard what Paul entrusted to Christ, or Christ is able to guard what has been entrusted to Paul. I think it's ultimately getting to the same thing, at the same point. The point is this when God saved Paul and called him for a holy calling, he mentioned it. He said, as an apostle, he's a teacher. That was his purpose, that was his special calling. There was a gospel ministry given to the apostle Paul. And in essence, it was entrusted to the apostle Paul to be a preacher and a teacher of the Word of God. And Christ is able to guard that. In other words, Christ would ensure that the Apostle Paul would accomplish his purpose and his task. The same is also true. The apostle Paul understood that that gospel ministry had been given to him, had been entrusted to him. And because of his faith in Christ and his reliance on the steadfast love and mercy of Christ, then the apostle Paul was going to fulfill that gospel ministry. They're both saying the same thing, and they're both rooted in the faithfulness of Christ, not the faithfulness of the man. It was the faithfulness of Christ. God had called him, Christ had called him and had commissioned him to preach the gospel, to do certain things, to be an apostle to the Gentile, and God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, would ensure that the apostle Paul would accomplish his task and his purpose. Now, the practical reason why Timothy should pledge to the gospel or commit to the gospel is found in the verses, found in those two verses of 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 11 and 2. Basically, it comes to this the call to ministry includes the call to suffer. And if you've uh if you've ever served in ministry, you ought to be shouting amen right now. That's part of it. But with the call to ministry, with the call of suffering, comes the power of the Holy Spirit to help see you through. So the practical reason to endure is because you are relying on the Holy Spirit. But here's the second reason. The Apostle Paul, in effect, said, I'm gonna stand before God one day, and so are you, Timothy, and you will give an account for what you did with your Christian life and your ministry. And so we see that the first command to follow to guard the gospel is to pledge to it. Well, it applies to us today in the very same way that it did for Timothy back then. First, we need to recognize that Christians can pledge to the gospel. We should commit to the gospel by not being ashamed of Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 9, verse 26 reads, For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. We must not be ashamed of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the hope of the nations, he is the only way to be saved. There is no other way to have your sin forgiven, and there is no other way to have entrance into heaven other than coming through the name of Jesus Christ and what he accomplished on the cross of Calvary. You cannot be saved by Buddha, you cannot be saved by Muhammad, you cannot be saved in Islam, you cannot be saved in Mormonism, you cannot be saved in Jehovah's Witness, you can't be saved in any other way other than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must not be ashamed of stating that truth and that fact. People's eternal destinies are at stake. Suck it. Christians can pledge to the gospel. We're talking about how this applies to us today. Christians can pledge to the gospel, can commit to the gospel. By not being afraid or ashamed of Christian prisoners. Persecution is still taking place today in the world. In various parts of the world, the true church is meeting underground. Caves. Secret locations. Hiding from their governmental authorities. Right now, today, there are people who have been arrested because they're Christian. Because they weren't ashamed of Christ. Because they boldly preached Jesus. And they're sitting in prisons today. Many of them are being tortured today. And we must not be ashamed of them. They are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Many of whom we have never met and will never meet. But I tell you one thing, on judgment day, when it's all made right, we're going to be shocked by how faithful they serve God and the amount of rewards they get on that day. Listen to this text. It's Hebrews chapter 13 and verse number 3. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them. And those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. The point is, we're all one and we're all one body. We need to remember those who are in prison. We need to pray for them. We need to seek God on their behalf and see if God will see fit to release them. And certainly pray that God would give them the grace to endure while they're in that prison. We know this is true, right? Several years ago, several years ago, we we had a minister here in this church who came to preach, and he uh was over in the Middle East, and he was arrested, and he was put in a cell that was about the length of that table. It was about six foot, about three foot wide. They would put him in this basically hole. He was there for 22 to 23 hours a day. They'd pull him out and they would beat him and they would put him back in. And uh the amount of joy this this uh minister possessed was quite amazing. He said something like this He said, We had an understanding. They would pull me out, I would tell them about Jesus, they would beat me and put me back. But do you know many of those who were involved in his torture came to faith in Christ, and governmental officials stepped in and actually got him released and out of the country. My friend, that's just one story of millions that we're gonna hear on judgment day about all the people who have faithfully served God. So I challenge you today in your prayer time, incorporate praying for the persecuted church around the world. Pray that God would empower them by the Holy Spirit to stand firm for Christ, and that if he would see fit to move kingdoms if necessary, presidents and princes and kings to intervene and to have Christians released. Amen. So, how does this apply to us today? We must not be ashamed of Christ, we must not be ashamed of Christian prisoners. Third, we must embrace suffering. In Luke chapter 9 and verse number 23, we read, and he said to all, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. Now, when Jesus said, if anyone's gonna come after me, let him deny himself daily, take up his cross daily and follow me. I assure you, he was not asking you to put on your pretty 14 karat gold necklace with a cross on it. Like in the American culture, we have this idea that, you know, hey, taking up your cross, you know, let's get it tatted on our arms, and let's let's let's wear a necklace, man. Let's, you know, we're gonna take up our cross. That is not that is not how the first century understood it. In our world today, especially in the West, the cross is a piece or is a piece of art. You know? We paint them, we decorate them, they they're in our halls, they're in our churches, they're in our bodies, and so on, they're in our jewelry. And there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, okay? Nothing wrong with that. Uh properly with the proper attitude, it helps us stay focused on Christ. I get it. We want to be Christ-centered, absolutely. But I'm just simply pointing out that in the first century, the cross was not a piece of art, the cross was an instrument of death. So when Jesus said, Hey, if anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. In other words, you are to live the crucified life. In other words, you are crucifying your passions, your sinful desires. You are nailing that to the cross so that you can live the resurrected life in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, you are willing to embrace suffering to the point that even if you have to lay down your life for the Lord Jesus Christ, so be it. That's what it means to commit to the gospel. When Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament era were calling people to come follow Christ, to repent of your sin and come to faith in Christ, they were issuing the call to suffer and die for Jesus if necessary. That is missing in our preaching in the Western world. Instead, the gospel call goes something like this. Hey, repent of your sin. Well, no, they don't even say repent or sin. I don't even know how to do it. The modern preaching goes something like this. Hey, if you want to be a better you, try Jesus for 60 days. Or something like that. You know what I mean? It's like, it's like, hey, if you're tired of being sick and broke, well then come to Jesus because you know he's our genie in the bottle. And if you rub him just right, and especially if you give a good offering, well, you know, God will heal your body and make you rich. Now, obviously, the prostitutes in the pulpit who pimp that kind of message don't just come out and say it like that, right? They're a little bit more clever, but that's what they're saying. And so, unfortunately, in the Western world, we have people filling up their pews in the church that's not even born again. They're not even saved. Because they've never heard a clear presentation of the gospel, they've never been called to actually repent of their sin and come to faith in Christ. It's more like a Hindu approach in India. It's like, hey, would you just add Jesus to everything else you're doing? Uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh. You shall have no other gods before me, the word of God says. Right? There's no idolatry. You put nothing before God. He is all in all, he is Lord of your life. He doesn't just live in your heart, you bow your knee to King Jesus, he rules the entire universe. That's what it means to come to faith in Christ. Obviously, believing that Jesus died on the cross for your sin, was buried in the tomb, and on the third day rose again. And those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen. Alright? So, in case no one's ever called you, this is gonna sound really dangerous, and they take this sound bite on the internet, but here it is. In case no one's ever called you to come and die, I am. This is what it means to follow Christ. You die to yourself every day, and you follow Christ. And if necessary, we will lay down our lives to follow Christ. Because whether we live or whether we die, Christ gets the glory and his kingdom advance. Well, that's a pretty good way to make sure nobody comes back next week. Jesus had the same problem in John 6 when he really started laying it down. They all left him too. So we must pledge to the gospel, we must commit to the gospel by not being ashamed of Jesus, not being ashamed of fellow prisoners, by not being ashamed to suffering. We need to embrace suffering. And the same theological reasons are true. I want to I want to hammer this. See, this is the way Paul generally wrote. When you read uh the letters written by Paul, man, Paul, he would spend some time uh laying out theological groundworks, man. I mean, he just hammers boom, boom, boom. And then in light of that, this is how you live. Here he somewhat flips the order. You know, he's telling everybody, you know, Timothy and by extension us, hey, be faithful to Christ, commit to Christ, guard the gospel. And here's why. Here's the theological underpinnings, why we do what we do. Because we too have been elected to salvation. You know, the scripture tells us in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3 through 5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will. If that's not clear enough, the Apostle John writes in Revelation chapter 17 and verse 8. The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to see the beast because it was and is not and is to come. Did you notice these things were done before the foundation of the world? You see, the history of the world is the history of God working out his plan of redemption for his glory. We too are saved by grace. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 through 9, the Apostle Paul writes, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. And if you would do the research, I mean, there are so many tools out there for you today, you can do the research, but the grammatical structure of this sentence is that both grace and faith are gifts of God given to us so that we come to saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's by grace alone. And we too are called for a purpose. Ephesians 2, verse 10. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Man, everybody's wanting a purpose. Man, what's my purpose? Find the will of God, I gotta do that. This is your purpose. Serve God, be faithful to Christ, and he will order your footsteps. I guarantee you, Noah did not wake up one morning and go, Lord, I want to do your will. Lord, I gotta do your will, I gotta do your will, I gotta do your will, I gotta do it. You know what it is? I'm gonna build a big boat. And then I'm gonna ask you to bless it. No man. Noah was just living life, and the Lord revealed to him what to do. The same can be said for Abraham, and on and on it goes. See, if you're a child of God and you're serving God, you will find yourself in the will of God. He orders your footsteps. And I guarantee you, if you stop and look back over your life, you go, man, I didn't understand at the time, but God was all up in that. Absolutely, because that's the way it works. So, in other words, I'm trying to set you free. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. God's in charge. If he spoke and the universe was created, I'm pretty sure he can handle you. I mean, I know you cray cray every now and then, but God's got you. He can handle you. Amen. We too, as followers of Christ, have had the fear of death removed. Right? Right? Okay. All right, can I say something with boldness, but with the pastor's heart? If you're scared to die, you need to really examine whether you're in the faith or not. Now look, I'm not, I don't want to die like right now. I want to see my grandkids and my great-grandkids. I want to see what God has planned for them. I want to see them blossom. I want to see them advance the kingdom of God. But I'm not afraid to die. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 55 through 58. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is a law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing then the Lord, your labor is not in vain. Yes, there's no fear. Christ has conquered all. We should be faithful to serve Him. And of course, you have the same practical reasons. I won't belabor at this point, but you know, as Paul gave Timothy theological reasons for pledging to the gospel, and then gave practical reasons, the same is true for us. Just suffice it for me to say this. Every single person, every single believer, one day is going to stand before God at the judgment seat of Christ, and you will give an account for everything that you have done with your Christian life. Me included. Every one of us. Man, if that don't make sure you stay faithful to Christ, then you have no fear of Christ. Which again, you should examine yourself to see if you're in the faith. So, the first command to follow, to guard the gospel, is to pledge to it. The second command to follow to guard the gospel is to proclaim it. Proclaim it. Now, I know most of you right now, you're like looking at your phone going, bro, it's 1145. You just know a point two? This one's short.

unknown 37:47

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SPEAKER_00 37:47

I know you don't believe me, but I'm gonna prove it. Ready? Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 13. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me and the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Not much commentary needed. Paul commanded Timothy to proclaim the gospel as he received it. Notice the caveat. Follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me. Paul was speaking as an apostle. One who laid down the foundation of the New Testament church in doctrine and teaching. And he says, You remember the sound words, you remember the sound doctrine that you heard from me. Right? You proclaim it. Preach it. Now, there is evidence that Timothy followed these commands. To pledge to the gospel and to proclaim the gospel. Fox's Book of the Martyrs tells us that the pagans over in what the Romans called the East or Asia, which would have been Ephesus, Turkey, that area. When the pagans were getting ready to celebrate a festival that they called the Katagogea. It's a word that meant these people would dress up in costumes and mask and they would proceed down the streets with revelry and drinking and sexual immorality and violence. When that festival was getting ready to kick off, as they began to march down the streets, Timothy stepped into the street and began to preach the gospel and call people to repent and come to faith in Christ. You know what the crowd did? They beat him with their clubs. And he died two days later. My friend. And it was faithful to proclaim it. No matter the cost. And what made the crowd, so the pagan crowd so angry is that he preached the true gospel. If you're proclaiming a gospel that everybody likes, it's probably not the true gospel. And so my challenge to you as a congregation, this is how it applies to us today. We must be faithful to proclaim the gospel as we have received it from Christ and the apostles. Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20 tells us that Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven or on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Notice he said to teach everything that he has commanded. Well, everything that he has commanded has been preserved for us in this scripture, in the Word of God. And we are called to proclaim this message. Whether it's popular to a certain crowd or not, whether it evokes a negative response or a positive response, it doesn't matter. We're not responsible for the way people respond. We are only responsible for proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's part of how we guard the gospel is that we are faithful to preach what the apostles preached. Because it's through the foolishness of preaching or the normative pattern, the way God works, is through the foolishness of preaching that men come to faith in Christ. So the second command to follow, to guard the gospel, is to proclaim it. And the third command to follow to guard the gospel is to preserve it. These somewhat go together, proclaiming and preserving it. But listen to this in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 14. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit, entrust it to you. Now, you realize Timothy was called to the ministry. Paul and the other elders laid their hands on him. It symbolized being ordained of the gospel ministry. Therefore, that that gospel ministry was entrusted to him. The call to preach the word of God and to preserve the word of God was entrusted to him, and he was to guard that. He was to guard that deposit. And he did so by not quitting, and he did so by not adding to the text or diluting the text. That's important. When I think about this, because some of you may have the thought, well, what do you mean like don't add to it or don't dilute it? Well, give me the simplest and clearest explanation of this or illustration of this. There is a heretical group known as a Jehovah's Witness. And they had their own Bible translation. It's called the New World Translation. And It's notorious for containing arrows slanted toward Jehovah's Witness, of course. But probably the most famous one would be John chapter 1 and verse 1. In the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1. You know it. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. And the word was God. Well, the New World Translation, Jehovah's Witness Bible, reads in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was a God. They added one little word, a. But boy, that changes the whole meaning, doesn't it? In other words, what they're saying is Jesus is not God. And they're thinking, in their uh religion, Jesus is a created enemy. Which is heretical. Because in the beginning was Word, word was with God, the Word was God. Jesus has always existed within the Trinity, of course. This is my point of being very careful of adding something to the text or diluting it. Probably in the modern evangelical church in America, we're not so much as guilty of adding to the text as we are diluting it. In other words, we want to gloss over the hard stuff. We want to gloss over the stuff that don't fit us. We don't gloss over the stuff that you know doesn't fit our little denominational scheme. You know what I mean? Instead of just preaching the text, we're preaching the text. We must preserve the scripture that has been given to us. We must be faithful to it. Now, obviously, the Holy Spirit preserves his scripture, no doubt. But we don't want to be guilty of trying to change it. We want to be in the Holy Spirit, power of the Holy Spirit, preserving the text. Because all scripture is inspired by God. We're going to deal with this later, but it's 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17. It tells us that all scripture is breathed out by God and it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. That the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And we cannot, listen, we cannot add to the scripture, and we cannot dilute from the scripture. Proverbs chapter 30, verses 5 through 6. Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Revelation chapter 22, verses 18 through 19. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life in the holy city, which are described in this book. Now, to be fair, in context, John was writing specifically about the book of Revelation. But the principle holds true for the entire scripture. We cannot add to the scripture. And we can't take away from the scripture. We have to faithfully proclaim the scripture that has been handed to us. And we must be faithful to it. And we must preserve it. And we must oppose all those who want to change it. The very last point on this is that we must defend the faith. Jude chapter 1 and verse number 3. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you. Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. The faith, that body of doctrine, that body of truth has been delivered to us once and for all. There will never be new additions. There will never be subtractions. We can never get to the point where we say, you know, it's 2026. You know, I bet, you know, the Bible needs to catch up with the times. It goes something like this. There's nothing wrong with loving who you want to love. Well, clearly, the Bible condemns homosexuality and lesbianism and bestiality and adultery and fornication and pornography. Shall I continue? No. We can never get to the point goes, well, you know, we got to modernize it because it's 2026, man. No, no. The Lord has given us his scripture. He has supernaturally preserved it down through time so that we have it. The English translations, assuming they're reputable, can be trusted. It is the word of God, and we must preserve it. And we defend the faith at all cost. And if anybody comes in and wants to dilute it, wants to change it, want to add to it, no, we have to oppose them. We do plant a flag here. This is worth dying for. The word of the living God and the faith that was given to us through Jesus Christ and the apostles. We plant our flag there and we will gladly defend it at all cost. That's what it means to guard the gospel. Here's the thing, guys. As a child of God, as a born-again believer, this is what you are called to do. This is a high calling. And he gives you the power of the Holy Spirit to do it. With no fear. Amen. And that is the preaching of God's word. If you'll stand to your feet with me this morning. If you are not a Christian, if you have never repented of your sin and place your faith in Christ, I call you to do so today. The gospel is the good news, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ who is defeating his enemies and bestowing gifts to his children. He is reconciling man to God. And that happened when Jesus was born of a virgin and lived a sinless life. Never committed one sin in thought, action, or speech. He performed miracles to validate his Messiahship, that it was indeed the Christ, the one to come, the anointed one to come, the Son of God, the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. And even though he committed no sin, he willingly gave his body to be beaten and to be whipped and to be nailed to that cross. Not for anything that he did, but for everything that you do. The scripture says when he was there, it was the propitiation. In other words, he is what turned the wrath of God away. God is a holy God who must judge sin. For the wages of sin is death. And the only thing that could turn away the wrath of God, the only thing that could satisfy the wrath of God was the death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who was slain from the foundation of the world. He died on that cross and they buried him on the tomb in the tomb, but on the third day he rose from the dead. He's alive forevermore. He ascended into heaven. He sees the right hand of the Father, and one day he's coming back for those who believe in him. And all those who repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ shall be saved. So I challenge you. If you have never repented of your sin and come to faith in Christ, do so today. Today is the day of salvation. Today's the day that you can come to faith in Christ. You might be asking, what do I do? Well, Romans chapter 10 would be a great chapter for you to read. A brief synopsis would be if you believe this gospel that I just presented and you believe in your heart that Christ was raised from the dead and you confess that Jesus is Lord, you'll be saved. But listen, it's more than just saying words. A confession is something you live by. When you confess that Christ is Lord, you know that He's Lord of your life. There'll be a change in you. You become a new creation in Jesus Christ. That's what it means to come to faith in Christ. If you need to do that today, you need to ask the person beside you, hey, will you pray with me? Or at the service, talk to me. Talk to someone, hey, hey, I want to come to faith in Christ. I want to come to faith in Christ, and we'll make sure you understand. Secondly, I want to talk to the Christians. Hopefully, you received this word and the application was crystal clear. We are commanded to guard the gospel. And we guard it by pledging to it. We commit to it. We proclaim it and we preserve it. The faith that's been once for all delivered to us. We embrace this word, every bit of it, even the parts that make us uncomfortable. And we proclaim it and we preach it. Because this is the faith that has been once for all delivered to the saints. We do not change it, we do not add to it, we do not take away from it, but we faithfully preach the word of the living God. And according to Isaiah 55, every time it's preached, it will accomplish its purpose. So today, as we take communion, I want you to think about that. Want you to think about that. That you are committing to this gospel. Thank you for listening to the Cairoville Grace Chapel podcast. Make sure that you like, share, follow us on socials. I'm Dr. Jason Murphy, proclaiming grace, transforming culture.