Safely Deposited

This after being away for a month
and. If it’s not working, it’s OK. I wanted to go to Second Timothy
chapter two this week, I wanted to take the opportunity kind
of out of sequence a bit to acknowledge and thank the four men who preached
over the course of the last month. As most of you know, these men,
most of them had preached before, but on this particular occasion
was the result of literally months of work through the Bible Institute. And to me, it is nothing short
of remarkable that we have at least five men in this little
body who can effectively preach the word. And truth be told,
there are more even than that. The four men who preached than
really are just representative of a greater number of men in
our body who have participated in Providence Bible Institute
this last spring. It was more than encouraging
to me that at the outset of establishing what we called Providence Bible
Institute, we initially wanted to call it Clay Pot Institute
or the Institute of Cracked Pots, but Providence Bible Institute
sounded a little more formal. By the way, it’s Providence Bible
Institute in the singular. John Calvin wrote the Institute’s
plural. And I shouldn’t be confused with
John Calvin. Anyway, at the outset, we had
nearly 20 men. in this small church, interested
in, with varying degrees of interest in those classes, a remarkable
response, which is just another indicator, really, of the high
view of God and the high view of Scripture that the people
of Providence Bible Church maintain, and for which I am deeply thankful. Now, it is evident that not all
were able to sustain that effort, that desire. Some immediately
backed down, realizing what they had gotten themselves into. Some
withered over time. All of us came out bruised and
battered. But the heartfelt desire by all
that initially expressed interest to know God and His Word better
was plainly obvious. And because of that, Trey and
I have talked and discussed and will be implementing a few changes
to the Institute, to the overall format, all the while maintaining
the overall focus of what we set out to do. At the outset,
we sought to make Providence Bible Institute academically
substantial. And I am convinced, as are others,
that we accomplished, if nothing else, that. We essentially wanted
to make it equivalent to seminary level study. By doing so, though,
we missed the greater number of men in the church who also
have a passion to grow, if not at the same academic intensity
of others. And so because of that, we want
to minister to all of those. who desire to learn of God. And
we have committed that at least one or two of the classes as
we go forward will be much more broad, kinder and gentler, if
you will, in expectation, less rigorous academically, more practical,
even devotional in nature. We will seek to still offer the
same seminary level coursework in the midst of the overall Institute
plan, Greek and Hebrew and theology and the like. And so. OK, so far, by way of an update
about the Institute and you say, well, this is kind of strange,
a kind of strange introduction to a sermon, but it is it is
that. Because some of you may be wondering
why with the church our size, are we conducting seminary classes. Why the focus on training men? Why are we so intent on developing
additional men to preach? I’m glad you asked. If you would go to Second Timothy,
Second Timothy will ultimately end up in chapter two, particularly
verse two. The passage is there in your
bulletin with places for notes. But I wanted to give you just
a brief background to Second Timothy. When Paul wrote to his
precious son in the faith, Timothy, a second time, this time, he
seems to have known well that his life and ministry were coming
to an end. This epistle reads much like
a last will and testament note, if you would. The letter opens
in chapter one with an intensely personal greeting, ultimately
urging Timothy to kindle afresh his faith, a faith that was cultivated
by his mother and grandmother. In verses eight through 14, he
frankly speaks of suffering and death in such a matter of fact
way that you get the sense that martyrdom is eventual, if not
imminent for Paul. In verses 15 through 18, you
have the kind of acknowledgement of the kindnesses of others often
found in farewell greetings. And I mean farewell quite literally. Then in chapter two, Paul turns
again to Timothy and one of the strongest and most complete ministerial
exhortations recorded in Scripture. Here, Paul exhorts Timothy to
spiritual strength, hard work, willingness to suffer doctrinal
purity, diligence in ministry, honorable usefulness for the
Lord, giftedness in pastoral care, pardon me, gentleness and
pastoral care. Chapter three then serves as
the backdrop for all of this kind of ministry. The impending
promise of difficult times, religious phonies who will make a mockery
of true ministry. Timothy, Paul urges, must rise
above all of that, and it seems abundantly clear that Paul won’t
be there to nurse Timothy alone. Hence, the solemn challenge at
the opening of chapter four to preach the word, marching orders,
as I’ve called it in times past, for the man of God. And then
in verses six through eight of chapter four, if you would, Paul
speaks of being already in the process of being poured out as
a drink offering. But if you Consider the abundant
pardon me, if you bear with me, Paul goes on to say that at the
time of his departure has already come. And then the well-known
line to which every servant of God aspires, I have fought the
good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith. So this book, Second Timothy,
is Paul preparing Timothy for future ministry, a future without
Paul. Future without Paul to guide young Timothy, a ministry
that neither should terminate with Timothy. A ministry that
should, even with Timothy, have a perpetuating element to it. If you go to chapter two. I want
to just look at two verses this morning. 2 Timothy 2, verses 1 and 2, where
Paul urges you, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that
is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard
from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful
men who will be able to teach others also. If you’re looking
at chapter 2, you will notice immediately that the connection
of verse 2 to verse 1 isn’t immediately clear. But if you consider for
a moment the abundant difficulties attended with carrying out the
commands of verse 2, effectively passing on the ministry to future
generations of servants, then verse 1 becomes much more clear.
Timothy had much need of the empowering grace of God if he
was going to effectively pass the torch. to future generations
of servants. What we have in 2 Timothy 2,
2 is a road map, really, for passing it on, a road map for
conducting ministry in such a fashion that it perpetuates. Paul speaks
here of a perpetuating ministry. And this is where we’re going
to park this morning. Look again at verse 2. There
Paul says in the simple sentence, for those of you of the Institute,
the simple sentence is where we begin in the simple sentence
here is somewhat obtuse. These things in trust. Or these
things in trust, these is literally in its simplest fashion, the
statement of the sentence and what Paul speaks of here is a
sacred trust. We will consider exactly what
was entrusted in a moment, but I want to be clear on this concept
of what is, what it means to entrust something, something
that we don’t naturally possess. It is something that is bestowed
or given to us in a temporary fashion for safekeeping. Many
of us have had the occasion. Perhaps to be godparents or stewards
of other people’s children, of other people’s things, to have
things bequeathed to you for a season. The apostle here is
desirous of the great preservation of the Christian ministry, of
the soundness of Christian teaching as it goes forth. It is evident
plainly here that Paul recognized that the way which he had carved
and forged doctrines would not continue naturally. And that more rigorous, more
particular attention must be given to them if they were to
be passed on from generation to generation. What Paul urges
Timothy was to not neglect that great ministry of passing on
those truths, of protecting against defection, of protecting against
decay and deterioration of those great doctrines. Just as Timothy
had made the gospel in his own heart, a precious deposit, he
was now to deposit that precious gift
in others. He was to hand it down to following
generations of preachers. As I mentioned, Paul had already
entrusted it to Timothy. In 1 Timothy, Paul wrote, this
command, I entrust to you, Timothy, my son. In accordance with the
prophecies made previously concerning you, that by them you may fight
the good fight.” We’ll come back to that verse in a moment. In
fact, even in this very letter, Paul had spoke of entrusting
or depositing these things. Look back, if you would, at chapter
1 and look at verse 12 where Paul speaks of making a deposit
himself. Only his deposit was entrusted
to God And it was a deposit of faith in verse 12. Paul says
there, for this reason, I also suffer these things, but I am
not ashamed, for I know whom I had believed and I am convinced
that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until
that day. Paul had made a deposit. He made
a deposit with God, but he had also made a deposit in young
Timothy. The deposit with God was one of faith. The deposit
in Timothy was one of the gospel of the Lord Jesus. To him, he
said, retain, verse 13, the standard of sound words which you have
heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
Guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us the treasure
which has been entrusted to you. One pastor warned, there are
unhealthy even deadly distortions of the truth in the air. And
unless care is taken to preserve the truth, it may easily become
possible to confuse weak and ignorant minds as to what the
essentials of the Christian faith are. But how formal was this
effort to be? Was young Timothy to start a
Bible college, an institute, a seminary? Was he to cultivate
men with degrees, letters, One commentator so speculated, he
said he is to establish a school, a school of picked scholars,
intelligent enough to appreciate and trustworthy enough to preserve
all that has been handed down from Christ and his apostles,
respecting the essentials of the Christian faith. Perhaps
another said it similarly. He said, this is the earliest
trace of the formation of a theological school, not merely the institution
of the unlearned, but the protection and maintenance of a definite
body of doctrine. That’s very possible that Paul
had in mind something very formal, something even like what we have
begun with the Institute. But at the very minimum, Paul
was urging Timothy to become a teacher. one who had in view
the passing on of the gospel ministry. Christ had promised that His
truth would continue. It is, after all, His eternal
word. But He didn’t exempt us. He didn’t
let us off of the hook of participating in that. He didn’t say that His
word would continue perpetually without effort. In fact, the
very time that Christ promised to be with his disciples always,
he urged them on that same occasion to go and make disciples, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded. As we saw for months
on end, we are partners with God. God has made us partners
with him in the ministry. So for us, we felt that a far
more formal effort of training men was in order. While doing
such has always been an emphasis in my ministry, taking young
men under my wing, training them, if at all possible, to preach
the Word, formalizing that in the shape of a Bible institute
seemed far more effective. Instead of running here and there,
imparting things to men piecemeal, A far more formal setting of
training multiple men concurrently seemed much more efficient. And
while it was rigorous and tiring and exacting on us all, me included, we found it to be much more effective
and we rejoice at what the Lord has provided. I want to look
this morning at what I would call components of a perpetuating
ministry. components of a of a perpetuating
ministry, a ministry that will continue on through time and
that the young men who receive it now will look down to the
young men who look to them in the future and so on and so forth. First of all, I want to look
at the material of a perpetuating ministry. What exactly is Paul
talking about here anyway? The material, first of all, look
at verse two, the things which you have heard from me in the
presence of many witnesses. And you could say that this is
quite vague. The things that he had heard, no doubt. Are referred
to. Even earlier in this book, which
first I just read, verse 113, the standard of sound words. which Timothy had heard from
Paul, that’s echoed here in this verse, the things which you’ve
heard from me, those sound words. Precious deposit, said one is,
of course, the gospel taken in its widest sense. It consists
of the sound words which Timothy had heard from Paul. It is precious
or excellent because it belongs to God and it results in his
glory through the salvation of those who accept it by sovereign
grace. Timothy is urged once and for
all to guard this deposit, the pure gospel, the sound doctrine. He must defend it against every
attack and never allow it to be changed or modified in the
slightest degree. And so the things of which Paul
here speaks are not only the instruction which Paul formally
gave in Timothy’s hearing, but the sound doctrine which Timothy
received from Paul indirectly through the report of others.
It is the entire series of sermons and lessons. It is the entirety
of the doctrine that was formed under the Apostle Paul and others,
not only from his mouth, but from his writings. Paul’s main
concern here for young Timothy was about what we might call
evangelistic succession, not so much apostolic succession,
the handing down of the word of truth of the gospel to stable,
trustworthy men. A process which one man called
the highest privilege of the church. The highest privilege
of the church is the perpetuation of the Christian ministry. One said it this way, no doubt
exists as to the precise nature of the tradition and the doctrine
to be transmitted, for Timothy had heard them from Paul’s own
lips. It wasn’t like Timothy was questioning Paul or wondering
what Paul meant. Timothy knew precisely. Paul
had laid it out intricately. What were the key doctrines of
the Christian faith? Timothy was to commit them to
others. He was to commit to others what he had heard. To pass them
on initially orally, but ultimately through the process of the church
and its development. through its system of theologies.
Those were to preserve the faith once for all delivered to the
faith. Paul had entrusted them to Timothy. Paul and Barnabas
had done likewise to others. Paul goes on to say in this little
passage that it was done so in the presence of many witnesses. These were no backdoor meetings.
This was no secret club. The confession is Paul’s confession. It was in the presence of many
witnesses, but these were Paul’s words, not their own. They looked,
they heard, they saw what Paul taught and they were present
and they were assenting. They were hearing and affirming
what Paul was saying as he was even uttering it. But they were
an integral part of what was going on. The church is always
to be attendant in these things, they’re always to be a part of
the passing of the torch. As one said, their presence was
an element without which the apostles teaching would have
assumed an entirely different character. It would have been
a secret society, essentially, is what he argues. They were
not a mere audience. They were able to testify as
to what was said. They were guarantees of the instruction
which was given. They were all the while testing
to make sure that all the while Paul was speaking the truth like
the noble Bereans and countless others who examined as they heard. The veracity of what Paul said,
Timothy, was to take this and treat it as the treasure that
it was a precious legacy that he held in trust that must be
passed on to others. Another said these were no private
communications, these were no secret doctrines delivered in
a corner as if adapted only to the wants of a select few or
intended to minister merely for personal gratification. They
were the great things which concern the salvation of men and the
glory of God, and therefore things which all ears should hear.” Doctrine, Paul says, is important. Theology, Paul says, is important. The clarity of the gospel is
important. What we believe, what we teach
is vitally crucial for the perpetuation of the Christian church. You
know, when Paul closed, His words to young Timothy in the first
epistle, he said this, 1 Timothy 6.20, Oh, Timothy, you can hear
the pleading tone of the apostle as he searches for Timothy’s
heart of hearts. Oh, Timothy, guard what has been
entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing
arguments of what is falsely called knowledge. which some
have professed and thus gone away from the faith. There are
many in our day, many who have gone away from the faith. It
was a fascinating feature of the. Of the Institute itself,
that thread that the men constantly recognized, we constantly recognized
the interrelationship of each of the classes, Greek, with ministry
matters and ministry matters with preaching. All of them were
intricately intertwined. The very need to study God’s
Word. Paul said, guard, Timothy, what
has been entrusted to you. Guard the whole system of evangelical
truth Guard the gospel, guard the nature of these things. Paul
was clear what he expected of Timothy. Paul knew that there
was but one gospel. Anything else is a falsehood. As one early church father said
it with a name that I won’t even attempt to pronounce, he said,
what is meant by the trust? Something that was entrusted
to you, not found by you. Which you have received, not
invented. A matter not of genius, but of
teaching. Not of private usurpation, but
of public tradition. A matter brought to you, not
put forth by you. In which you ought to be not
an enlarger, but a guardian. Not an originator, but a disciple. Not leading, but following. Keep
the deposit. Preserve intact. and inviolate
the talent of the universal faith, what has been entrusted to you.
Let that same remain with you. Let that same be handed down
by you. Gold you have received. Gold
return. I will be sorry if you should
substitute anything else. There is only one gospel. What is not identical with the
gospel which Paul and the apostles preached is no gospel at all.
Paul says Galatians one. The divine apostolic gospel is
that which has been committed to Timothy and by Timothy to
others and down through the centuries to us. One warned the gospel cannot
be superseded by any announcement Possessing a larger measure of
truth and authority. What a profound statement. There
isn’t anything grander than the gospel. But it may be seriously
misunderstood. It may be corrupted by a large
admixture of error. It may be partially or even totally
forgotten. It may be supplanted by some
creative counterpart, and therefore, Paul says, guard what has been
entrusted to you. And the charge is no less poignant
for us today. Through ignorance, through neglect,
through willful misrepresentation or interested opposition, the
truth may be obscured, depraved or even defeated. We must guard
the truth. It should be noteworthy, as I
said, that slender thread of the need of doctrinal purity,
theological accuracy was there. It is as present and as needful
today as it was as Paul handed the torch to young Timothy. Secondly,
we’re looking at the components of a perpetuating ministry. The
material is the gospel, sound doctrine, if you will. But we
want to look also at the men, Who are those men to whom the
gospel is deposited? Look again at verse two, the
things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses,
entrust these to faithful men. Faithful men. Paul said, first and foremost,
And he’s given qualifications in a number of places. 1 Timothy
3, Titus chapter 1. It’s not like there’s just one
qualification, but the overarching qualification. For who would
serve God? Who would stand in God’s place
and speak God’s Word to God’s people? He must be faithful. He must be faithful. He must
be trustworthy. This is a word that is used in Scripture, 1
John 1 9, of God. God is faithful, but we too are
spoken of and exhorted to faithfulness. We are supposed to be trustworthy.
Clearly, faithfulness is expected of men, but particularly of God’s
servants. 1 Corinthians 4 2 says it quite
simply. In this case, moreover, it is
required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. If you can’t trust what a person
says, if you can’t trust how a man handles his life, his finances,
his family, then you can’t trust him with the gospel. One pastor said it so well when
he said, as he is a servant, he must be faithful to his master. As he is the dispenser, he must
be faithful to those subject to his oversight. He must not
neglect to dispense them their food. Neither may he adulterated
or substitute anything in the place of that which was given
him to distribute. Can you imagine the audacity
of those who would think to intersperse their own thoughts in the midst
of God’s? He goes on to say the great thing
required of them is fidelity to Christ as servants, not grasping
for themselves power or venturing to go beyond his commands, not
failing to dispense to God’s children the truth which God
has revealed, nor mixing those truths with their own speculations,
human knowledge or wisdom. We’ve been given a trust. We
were found faithful. We were expected to be faithful
in the dispensing of these truths. God didn’t hire us for our creativity. God didn’t look at you and say,
boy, I got a good one here. Let him go and do his thing. You will recall in the Gospels,
the repeatedly recorded parable of the talents in Matthew’s Gospel,
chapter 25. The parable of the talents, where
ultimately the principle is stated, he who is faithful in a little
thing will be faithful in much. There is expectation of faithfulness
in ministry. Yet these faithful men who are
able to teach have to constantly keep in mind that Just like we
learned in 2 Corinthians 3, we are not adequate in ourselves
to consider anything as coming from ourselves if we have been
faithful at all. It is due to the abundant grace
of God in our lives. And what about this faithfulness?
What is it? Who is it faithful to? Is it
a deep loyalty to Paul? Had Timothy been so loyal that
he was found faithful in Paul’s eyes? Not at all. There’s no
doubt that loyalty has its value and that Timothy had been that
to Paul. Rather, what Paul is talking
about here is faithfulness in one’s calling, faithfulness to
God, faithfulness to God’s Word, a faithfulness to maintain the
purity of the gospel. Timothy was supposed to be on
the look for men faithful in character, The loyalty to the truth which
was born out in their lives. Seventeen men initially expressed
a desire, a hunger to learn more about God and His Word. And the
four men that we heard these past week really, as I said,
are just representatives of the greater number. Trey and John
and Barry and Kevin. They’re no doubt faithful men.
But they’re not the only ones. Not the only ones in this body.
Nevertheless, God had specifically and particularly enabled these
four with privileges, not the least of which was this pulpit
with giftings in various measure. Take, for instance, Trey. Here’s
Trey. Faithful. An elder who really has learned
his stripes through the university or should I say seminary of hard
knocks. Faithfully serving by my side
without any financial return, laboring, loving, teaching, praying
for serving God’s people. Here’s John. Faithful. A man who labored for eight years
against the tide of a church intent on drifting Ultimately,
to reluctantly resign and yet to retain faith enough to move
halfway across the country, still remaining in the Midwest. Moving halfway across the country
without a job, mind you. To serve in this church. This
is long overdue, but Trey and I are honored to formally place
John Magnuson before you as a candidate for eldership. We’ll speak more
about that in the weeks to come. And there are others. Here’s
Barry Johnson, faithful, who quietly labors in a seminary
program by extension in addition to all of his studies in the
Institute. And he does so not so much for the degree, but for
the knowledge that undergirds it. Here is Kevin Mark, faithful,
An articulate, passionate servant who literally has open door access
to almost every public school in northern Colorado. And literally
access to hundreds of young people, many of whom, having come to
Christ, have visited our body. The Lord himself has bestowed
upon us an abundant blessing of men who are faithful. And
as I said, these four are just the more visible representatives.
But there’s a third component. There’s a third component to
a perpetuating ministry, not only the material and the men,
but the mandate. Verse two, again, the things
which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses
entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others
also. This, no doubt, is a qualification.
It is an echo, as it were, of First Timothy 3.2, apt to teach
or able to teach. There is supposed to be an aptitude
there. You should be able to get up
here and speak in somewhat clear sentences, communicate, if you
will. But it is also a mandate. Find
others who can do it and send them. Go. Not only an ability
to teach, but a readiness, a skillfulness, an eagerness to pass on what
has been passed to them. John Gill said it this way, who
has a considerable store of knowledge? Who is capable of interpreting
the scripture to the edification of others? Who is able to explain,
lay open and illustrate the truths of the gospel and defend them
and refute error? And who is not only able, but
ready and willing to communicate to others. And who likewise has
utterance of speech, the gift of elocution can convey his ideas
of things in plain and easy language. Paul tells Timothy later on in
the same chapter, the Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome,
but be kind to all, able to teach. There’s no doubt that we need
to be ready to preach, pray or die in an instant. In essence,
this is just an echo of what Paul said to Titus, that we are
to hold fast the faithful word in accordance with the teaching,
having an ability to hold it forth to generations of saints. Paul handed it to Timothy. Timothy handed it to others and
countless others through the centuries have been passed and
in turn passed the torch to others. Paul charges Timothy not merely
to hold on to this treasure that was given to him, but to hold
it loosely and to carefully pass the torch to others. As one said,
and I close, these faithful men have the commission in order
that they might testify correctly concerning them. And in turn,
find others who should receive and deliver the testimony to
the ensuing generations. The kernel lives here. In other
words, Paul says this is where it all starts. 2 Timothy 2.2
The kernel lives here in the maintenance from age to age of
the same grand fundamental principles of faith and practice. External
organizations are but the shell which may more or less fitly
serve to guard and perpetuate the treasure. In other words,
God says, I don’t care what you call it. Cracked Pots Institute
kind of has a nice ring in retrospect. I don’t care what you call it.
I care what you do with what you’ve been entrusted. The kernel
or the gospel treasure That the word, the worth rather of the
other is to be tried, not that the other which is to determine
or modify it. In other words, Providence Bible
Institute doesn’t sit in judgment of the gospel. The gospel sits
in judgment of Providence Bible Institute. May God find us faithful. Let’s pray. Our gracious God, we humble ourselves
in your midst. Thankful for what you have provided.
Not only the material of a precious treasure, the Gospel, but faithful
men in a clear mandate to pass these things to a future generation
who will do likewise. Grant us the grace, Father, to
be faithful in all these things. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.
Amen. Ha ha ha!