The Charge to Guard the Gospel - Conclusion 2nd Timothy 1:12-18

Good morning, good morning, thank you so much for having us here and thank you for the warm welcome both literally and figuratively. We really appreciate the phone calls and text messages and emails that we received before we got here and even after.

So thank you so much for your loving welcome and we also thank God that he made it possible and he also made it clear to both of us because we wouldn't be here if it weren't clear for one of us, right?

So we also thank you, the church, for inviting us back because we also wouldn't be here if you didn't want us back and we're just so glad because right after we left for Chicago we exited the airport, the O 'Hare airport, and my wife turned to me and was like, I miss the church.

And I felt the same way and we're thankful for Pastor John who has been faithfully preaching the word so that you would have a constant and healthy spiritual diet and we also thank his family because they're also serving in the church as well and his kids, Jacqueline and Joanna, have to be pastor's kids twice and I don't even know what it is like to be a pastor kid once.

We also would like to thank the elders, right? Harold, Victor, and also John who kept in contact with us since, I mean ever since we've met them, right? And made sure that we were well provided for every step of the way.

And I would also like to say happy Father's Day for all the fathers out there and although this day is a day of celebration, for some of you it may be a difficult day and yet we look to God, our perfect father, who adopted us into his family in Christ through the spirit.

Even though some of you may not have access to your earthly fathers for various reasons, we will always have access to our heavenly father and he's the best father who is so gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love.

He does not abuse, he is not manipulative, he does not deceive, he is extremely generous and abundantly blesses us through his son and there's none like him and we remember him on this Father's Day. And that's why today I would like to focus on one of God's attributes, his loving kindness or steadfast love.

This is the type of love that God has for his people. It's a covenantal love, it's a loyal love, it's a steadfast love. The NKJV translated this word as mercy and mercy would definitely describe the word but it's more than just mercy.

The same word is used when God reveals himself to Moses in Exodus 34. The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. So when you hear mercy as I read this psalm, also think of God's loyal love, love that is so faithful.

Think of God's steadfast love, it's constant. This psalm will repeat the phrase, for his mercy endures forever, 26 times, one for each verse, one for each character of each of his character or his action and one may think it's repetitive but it is this sort of repetition that we need to remember that God's love endures forever and in everything he does, he does it out of his steadfast love.

So I will be reading from Psalm 136, oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Oh give thanks to the God of gods for his mercy endures forever. Oh give thanks to the Lord of Lords for his mercy endures forever.

To him who alone does great wonders, for his mercy endures forever. To him who by wisdom made the heavens, for his mercy endures forever. To him who laid out the earth above the waters, for his mercy endures forever.

To him who made the great lights, for his mercy endures forever. The sun to rule by day, for his mercy endures forever. The moon and stars to rule by night, for his mercy endures forever. To him who struck Egypt in their firstborn, for his mercy endures forever.

And brought out Israel from among them, for his mercy endures forever. With a strong hand and with an outstretched arm, for his mercy endures forever. To him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his mercy endures forever.

And made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his mercy endures forever. But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, for his mercy endures forever. To him who led his people through the wilderness, for his mercy endures forever.

To him who struck down great kings, for his mercy endures forever. And slew famous kings, for his mercy endures forever. Sihon, king of Amorites, for his mercy endures forever. And Og, king of Bashan, for his mercy endures forever.

And gave their land as a heritage, for his mercy endures forever. A heritage of to Israel his servant, for his mercy endures forever. Who remembered us in our lowly state, for his mercy endures forever.

And rescued us from our enemies, for his mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the God of heaven, for his mercy endures forever, amen. And let us pray. Father, we thank you for all the blessings you've given us in Christ.

We thank you that we get to call you our father and you see us as your children because of what Christ has done for us on the cross. And to shed blood for us to purchase us from sin and he is risen. And through your spirit we get to call you our father.

And God we thank you that in you there is acceptance, in you there is love, in you there is peace and joy. Thank you God that you would call people like us who did not deserve this. By your grace and mercy, because it endures forever.

And God I pray that at this time you would soften our hearts and open our eyes and ears to focus on your presence. Through the worship through music and worship through the preaching of the word. We ask that you would use Pastor John to speak clearly to us your word.

And feed us for man does not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God. God I pray that each one of us would be able to experience your presence through your word. And we would take that with us throughout the week to remember who you are and who we are, in Jesus name, amen.

Well, Pastor Ilgen and Lauren, a warm welcome to you from Victor, John, and myself. And we'll be talking much more as time progresses and getting to know you and welcoming you as well. And for everyone out there that we're doing a, sisters, shall we?

That next week after service there's gonna be a gathering over at the Huffam's. So put that on your calendar and come out and join us, please. It's gonna be hot, but we got the misters out, so we'll try to make it as comfortable as possible.

As a church body and as personally, we're just really grateful that you're here. It's just, words can't express. And the Lord is in it, and we're trusting in the Lord, so as you are. Yeah. As, in order to frame our worship, and kind of place a picture in your minds, I just wanted to read just a couple verses here from Philippians 2, verses 9 and 10.

9, 10, 11. Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. And that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. And those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under this earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And let's kind of have that perspective as we worship the Lord, because that's what we're doing with our voices and in our listening when Pastor John comes to share the word. So let's all stand together, and we're gonna sing.

Come Christians, join to sing. Continue to praise him, praise him, praise him.

Please be seated. It is coming, scripture reading. Hey, good morning. Good morning. Just wanna echo Harold's sentiments. I wanna welcome back Ilgen and Lauren. It gives me a lot of joy to see you guys back.

So glad the Lord was with you and gave you a safe trip here. The scripture reading this morning is from Matthew. Matthew 6, verses 25 through 30. Therefore, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body.

What you will put on is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by worrying, can add one cubit to his stature? So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin, and yet I say to you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these.

Now if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? May God add his blessing to the reading and hearing of his holy word.

Thank you, Dave. Let's stand together again as we continue our worship and song. My hope is in the Lord.

Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Well, praise the Lord, amen? Amen. If you have your Bibles, would you open them with me, please, to 2 Timothy? I was sitting there thinking, some of you are old enough to remember when life was pretty simple.

You know, you would go to the gas station, the nice guy in his uniform with his hat and his name, Bill. And he would greet you. Gas was 15 cents a gallon. He would ask you kindly, nicely, glad to see you, fill her up.

Check the oil. And he would wash your windows. Remember that? And I remember as a kid, I don't know if anybody else was like that. I was always into, did he miss anything on the windshield? And remember it was those blue paper towels?

But then they went to squeegees. And then they would leave the line on the squeegee, right? On the windshield, right? And you're like, why don't you go back to those blue paper towels? But the reason I thought of that is, things were simple.

And you could watch the evening news and pretty much know everything that was going on in the world, right? But now, I mean, if you don't have eight, nine, ten, twelve news sources, and look at all the headlines.

I mean, you don't know that seven people got shot last weekend in Chicago, or this, or that, or that, right? But aren't you thankful that our God does not change? Amen. Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.

The world may change, rulers may change, but Jesus still reigns, amen? So thankful, Lord our God, our rock, our redeemer. And the reason I brought up the news thing is, maybe some of you have enough news sources that you have heard about something.

By the way, Wayne, good to see you. Got a brownie point? Wayne's in church. And Ramaya, welcome back. We missed you. Little jet lag. You're over that. Yeah. But hey, there's something going on out there right now called the cancel culture.

Anybody heard of that? You know, they're tearing down statues and everything else. Well, I just wanna give you a little sense of comfort. I'm not being canceled. Iljin will be here, right here, God willing, next Sunday, and he will start.

But we have not been canceled, at least not yet. They haven't torn down our statue, wherever it might be. But it's Father's Day, and a great, great welcome and happy Father's Day to all the fathers that are here.

And we're gonna be talking, this is not your typical Father's Day message, but I will be able to touch on being a father because for a moment, I'm gonna talk about tools. Very popular Father's Day gift are tools and Christmas gifts, right?

You can go to any Home Depot or Lowe's right now, not that I wanna mention them by name, cuz I miss George and Bill's harsh, like Amy's, remember when you would go to a hardware store and they were glad to see you, and you couldn't turn anywhere and not find help?

Even if it was just a little itsy bitsy screw, I just need the, yes, sir. Right now, it's like you walk half an hour finding a clerk. Many men appreciate having tools around. Most men that own a home or on their way to owning a home have a toolbox, and some are bigger than others.

And most men, if we took a survey, would tell us, boy, there's something about having the tool that you need where you put it last, in the drawer you put it in, when you need it. And most men would agree that there is something about not having the right tool when you need it.

I remember owning a car, and I go to change the oil, and I think, okay, drain plug, oil filter. Well, this one, the oil filter was, with the newer cars, it was down here, and my hand won't even fit. And I could not get a socket on it, so I spent an hour and a half using extended pliers that I had.

I had all kinds of tools, but I didn't have that tool. But there's something wonderful, when I bought that socket, I had a hinge on it, I stuck that baby in there, put the three-eighths drive on it, and that oil filter, the next time I changed the oil on that car, came right off.

Hallelujah. And you remember, we started this series of messages talking about tools, didn't we? In the last few months, we've been answering this question. What are some specific tools? What are some gospel truths in God's Word that can help us stand firm when we're living in difficult or perilous days?

Whether we're talking, if you remember, about politics, or healthcare crises, or wars and rumors of war, famine. Now they're talking about food shortages, any of the things, even persecution that can happen in the country and the world.

And if you can think back, we started right here in 2 Timothy 3, verse 1, where Paul warns Timothy and believers about living in the last days. 2 Timothy 3, verse 1. But know this, be certain of this, that in the last days, perilous or difficult times will come.

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.

And from such people, turn away. And if you remember, we looked at a number of passages in the New Testament to sort of frame a theology of what God's Word tells us about standing firm in the last days when things get very difficult or perilous, like, for example, what's been happening in our country and in the world.

Okay? And in the sovereignty of God, not planned, on Ilgen and Lauren's first official day here, we arrive at this final message in the short series that we're calling The Charge to Guard the Gospel, which falls under that larger topic that we've been studying, where we've been seeking by God's grace to learn from God's Word some specific tools, tools of faith in the Bible that can help believers to stand firm in difficult times.

So let's go back to chapter 1, and let's wrap up this series under the series of standing firm in difficult times and perilous times, The Charge to Guard the Gospel. Let's pray. Father, we're so thankful for this day and for this opportunity to turn to your Word.

God, we're so thankful for your sovereign, loving, merciful care, steadfast love over this church body. It's not my church, it's not the elders', it's Christ's church. And Father, just in an incredible series of circumstances, bringing Ilgen Cho to our attention.

And Father, just how you, as he shared, led them so clearly here. We are excited about the next chapter in the history of Faith Bible Church. May your Holy Spirit this morning be our teacher, open our eyes of understanding that our hearts might receive your Word, Father, in such a way that a seed is implanted, that dies, grows, and produces much fruit in our lives, we pray in Jesus' name.

Amen? So we've been digging into the toolbox of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant Word, seeking to find some gospel truths that we can sort of keep in our pocket or hide in our heart when it comes to standing firm in perilous times.

And we've seen that standing firm in perilous and difficult days starts, if you remember back, with truly being born again. Where do we find that? Verse 5. Paul called to remembrance what kind of faith that Timothy had.

Genuine, real, unhypocritical, sincere faith that is in you. Genuine faith. Remember, the early church, including Paul and Timothy, were living in very difficult days, and we saw how discouraged Timothy was and afraid.

Paul was in prison. He says in verse 8, don't be ashamed, don't be embarrassed, don't be afraid of the testimony of our Lord or of me, his prisoner, but Timothy, share with me, join with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.

So, to encourage Timothy, Paul takes him back, right, to the beginning of his Christian life, reminding him about his genuine, saving faith. And then when it comes to standing firm in perilous times, in verse 13, we find this charge to guard the gospel.

When Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus, that good thing, that treasure, that precious treasure which was committed to you, which was entrusted to you, keep by the Holy Spirit that dwells in us.

So, when it comes to standing firm in perilous times, one tool of gospel truth is salvation. I cannot imagine, honestly, in my wildest dreams of facing what we as a country have been facing the past couple of years apart from genuine, saving faith.

I just can't imagine. The anchor of Christ, the rock of Christ, standing on that rock. I can't imagine the things that people have had to face, businesses and so on and so forth, apart from true, genuine, saving faith.

The second tool is believers obeying the vital and sober charge to guard the gospel. And remember how this is done. Paul, it's just so wonderful, right? Keep that good thing which was committed to you, how?

By the Holy Spirit. Man, what a constant reminder. We are saved by grace through faith and we live the Christian life the same way. We cannot stand firm apart from God's power, the Holy Spirit in our life.

Just won't happen. And what we've been doing is examining some of the reasons why guarding the gospel is so critically important. I would love to repreach all those messages, all the examples we went through.

So how do believers today fulfill this charge, obey this charge? Where Paul says to Timothy to hold fast the pattern of sound words and to keep that good thing, guard the treasure of the priceless gospel.

What's involved? How do we do this? What is Paul saying and how should Christians today follow in Timothy's footsteps and obey this charge to guard the gospel? And it's in your notes. We've seen this is done, first of all, by comprehending the urgent need to do it.

If we don't understand the need, we're not going to do it. The doctor tells us certain things, take this medicine, take that medicine. You have a need and what do we do? We take it. So we have to acknowledge and understand the vital need to guard the gospel.

Second, we studied how believers guard the gospel by understanding the vital importance of having a biblical Christology, right? As the scripture teaches, no biblical Jesus, no what? Biblical salvation, no biblical gospel, no biblical Jesus, no biblical gospel.

We looked at a lot of examples of that. Third, by understanding some of the key and fundamental doctrinal elements of what the Bible teaches us about Jesus Christ. I use that big word. Remember, Jimmy?

Christology. Don't get scared. Have a biblical Christology, right? Effectively, guarding the gospel requires having a solid, grounded understanding of some of the key and fundamental doctrinal elements of what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ.

And I put that quote that I found a couple of weeks ago. It's in your notes. The only Christ is a biblical Christ. All revisionist Christs are but shadows of the Antichrist who is coming. And we briefly examined four critically important doctrinal truths when it comes to what the Bible teaches us about Jesus Christ.

Remember the virgin birth, right? We touched briefly on the full humanity and full deity of Jesus Christ. We spent some time looking at what the scripture teaches us about the lordship of Jesus Christ.

And then last week, if you'll turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15, we studied the vital importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. And remember, last week we saw how Satan began his attack on the resurrection even before it happened, right?

And it was under attack in the early church. It was under attack in the first century church, the second century church, and right up until this very day, the doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ has been attacked.

The validity of the resurrection was just one of the many issues that was going on in the church at Corinth. Verse 12, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 12. Now, if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, and that's what we preach, and that's what we teach, and that's what the Bible teaches.

How do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? And we looked at these last week. Believers desiring to stand firm and to persevere in peerless and difficult times need to remember that the attacks against the doctrine of the resurrection have never stopped, and they will continue until Jesus comes again.

So believers have to be grounded. They have to be rooted in the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave, because if our only hope in Christ, if our only true hope is in this life, we have what?

No hope at all. Remember, we looked at about six things, six reasons why. Number one, and I put them back in your notes just to remind you if you weren't here or if you forgot already. The resurrection is vital because if Jesus Christ didn't arise from the dead, the apostles preaching would be vain or empty.

You see that in verse 14. If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also. If it didn't happen, if the resurrection didn't happen, the apostles entire ministry would have been meaningless.

Their teaching would have been meaningless. Their sacrifice, their preaching, their miracles that were done through their ministry, even their martyr's death would be what? Meaningless. Number two, if there was no resurrection, the Christian faith would also be empty.

Not only would their preaching be empty, your faith empty. Third, if there was no resurrection, Christians would be spreading a lie. Verse 15. Yes, if there was no resurrection, we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn't raise, if in fact the dead do not rise.

If there was no resurrection, it would mean Christians are nothing but liars. And if there was no resurrection, Jesus Christ himself would also have been a liar. Fifth, if Jesus Christ didn't rise from the dead, Christians would have no hope for the future.

Verse 18. Then also those who have fallen asleep, those who have died in Christ have what? Perished. No future. And then verse 19, the sixth reason why it is so important. If there was no resurrection, Christian would be the most pitiable people on earth.

Verse 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. You know what that word means? Do you remember? Unhappy, depressed, despondent. The best way to put it in English is really, really, really wretched.

Remember Job? Covered in boils. So the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, that was last week. Go back to 2 Timothy with me, chapter 1. How should Christians today follow in Timothy's footsteps?

And we saw that he did. He was encouraged by Paul's letter, his deathbed epistle, right? Because we find in Hebrews that he was arrested for his faith and later released. How should Christians today follow in Timothy's footsteps and obey this charge to guard the gospel?

Number one, by understanding the urgent need to do so. Number two, by understanding the vital importance of being grounded in a biblical Christology. Third, by understanding some of the key elements, the key doctrinal elements of what the Bible teaches about Jesus Christ.

And now finally, by comprehending, by appreciating and comprehending the critical importance of retaining the standard of sound words, sound doctrine. Where do I find that? Verse 13. Hold fast the pattern of sound words.

See, not only charge the gospel, verse 14, not only keep by the Holy Spirit the good thing that was committed to you, also hold fast the pattern of sound words that you heard from me. And notice what he says and notice how he says it in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus.

How do Christians guard the gospel? Verse 13, Paul says it's done by holding fast or retaining the standard of sound words by holding fast to and staying close to doctrine, to the teachings of Christ, the word of God that defined the biblical gospel.

Now, what's interesting here in verse 13 is Paul uses two parallel imperatives. These are imperatives in the Greek, they're commands. And in the original Greek, these two parallel imperatives are meant to complement and strengthen each other.

It's like when we say very, very, very good, right? The very strengthens the good. The more varies we use what? The gooder it is. So the Greek word that is translated hold fast in verse 13 and then the word in verse 14, keep or guard are parallel commands or imperatives.

And scholars indicate that Paul's use of these two words so close together strengthens and stresses the importance for Timothy and believers to be doing and listen to keep on doing not only to be doing, but to keep on doing.

And one of the verbs is in a tense that tells us you started back here. Please keep doing what you started back here. And what's interesting is these two verbs are further strengthened in verse 15 by what Paul says.

He says this, you know, wait a minute. This, you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me. They've turned away from the sound doctrine. They've turned away from the gospel, the biblical gospel that Paul had shared with them, committed to them.

And I don't have time to unpack all of verse 15. So the idea of the word hold fast, look at it in your mind and sort of get your mind wrapped around this because this is what we're to do. The idea with that is to hold to possess something and to keep on possessing it, holding onto it, even through circumstances or someone trying to grab it out of your hands.

It's that football player that possesses that ball. And no matter what, he's going to hold on to it. Right. And then you see that word pattern. It's an outline. It's a sketch. It's a blueprint. Timothy, here's the idea.

Aggressively and tightly keep hold of, retain the blueprint, the outline of the sound words, the teaching that you heard from me. Keep hold fast. Don't lose grip on what you've been taught. The sound words of teaching that you heard from me, from Paul and Paul.

Listen, I don't know about you, but sometimes I'm slow. Sometimes a two by four isn't enough. Across the side of the head. Anybody else like that? Come on. See, Paul doesn't just say this once. He says it many, many, many times.

Listen, this is a very deep concern of God that believers keep on doing this. Hey, you start doing it. Keep on doing it. Look at chapter two, verse two. Paul says the same thing. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses.

Commit these to faithful men who will also be able to teach others. Commit the sound words, the doctrine of the gospel, the nature of Jesus Christ, the virgin birth, the resurrection, salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone.

Hold on to those and find faithful men to give them to. Look at chapter three, verse 10. The things you have heard from me. I'm sorry, but you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, love, sound words, sound teaching, aggressively hold fast to these things.

Timothy chapter first, Timothy chapter one. I'm sorry. First, Timothy chapter four, verse 16. Paul says, take heed to yourself and to what? The doctrine. Continue in them. Church, one of the things that is going on in the church today is that believers, pastors, seminaries are not continuing in these things.

They may have started right. But they don't continue, and some of it are hard truths. Can I show you one? Look at second Timothy. I'm sorry. First Timothy three across the page. Please look carefully.

This is a faithful saying. If a what? What does it say? If a man. Oh, excuse me. Does it say person? Please help me. Please help me. If a man desires a position of a bishop, he desires a good work, then how can we have a woman pastor?

Is that gender neutral? The things you've heard from me. Continue. He desires a good work. There's the pronoun. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, the wife of one husband, the husband of one wife.

It's very clear. So how can a seminary teach a woman and graduator to be a pastor? Help me. Well, I guess I guess we need to change the words around a little bit. It doesn't mean a man is any better, by the way.

Amen, ladies. Come on. I know it's Father's Day. This isn't a Father's Day horse I'm riding, and it's not gender neutral for 16. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. That's what's going on. Continue in them for in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

So Timothy had heard and received by faith sound true words, the doctrine and teaching about the gospel, the Christian life, the body of knowledge that we read in God's word. Timothy received those words from Paul himself, probably over the course of three years or more.

And one of the miracles of the inspiration of Scripture is that we have those very same words in our Bibles. Hallelujah. Now, second Timothy one again. So we should note that Paul's concern regarding holding fast the pattern of sound words and doctrine in these verses and elsewhere always seems to be expressed in the context of false teachers.

See, God is. Listen, we have so much to be thankful for this morning because God is keeping us safe here at Faith Bible Church, and we are confident we are confident under the preaching and teaching of Ilgen that it's going to remain that way.

I believe there's very few men lately that I've met that are as committed to truth as Ilgen is. And I can give you examples that would just rock your world of how unfaithful so many seminary graduates are.

And see, most of us here, because we're in this sort of cocoon, don't understand the amount of widespread false teaching that is in the church today. False teaching about how God wants to bless believers financially as the pastor lives in his 9 ,000 square foot house with his Bentley in the garage, and we chug to church in our 93 Camry or whatever it is.

Joke, right? Yeah. How believers, he wants to bless them financially from sin. What is sin anymore? Right? False gospels to downright apostasy. So the charge to guard the gospel requires holding tight to the gold standard of the gospel, to grip hard, hold close and keep holding and to know the standard, to know the doctrine, to know the teaching, the new covenant truths that Timothy had received from Paul.

And some of these sound words have to do with the gospel, the essence of the gospel that Paul repeats to him again in verse 8, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for what the gospel.

So how is Timothy to guard the gospel? How can we only look at what it says only through the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works. You understand, I cannot do the things I have to do in my power.

I cannot guard the gospel. I cannot hold fast. I cannot do any of these things. I cannot save myself. But it's done according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began the gospel in Timothy's day, in Martin Luther's day, in our parents day, in our grandparents' day, in Barb's mother and father's day has been revealed how?

By the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Hold fast the pattern of sound words. What are sound words? Ephesians 2, 8, 9,.

For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Romans 6, 23, The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is salvation in Christ Jesus.

Romans 3, 23,. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Amen. And we can go on and on. That's what he was talking about. Sound words, New Testament, new covenant doctrine, the gospel, the virgin birth, the humanity and deity of Christ, the resurrection.

I mean, the moment somebody starts to tell you that you're a God, like Jesus was a God, bells should be ringing off. You're, I mean, I mean, air raid sirens should be going. Bells should be, I mean, police sirens.

God in you. What? Wait a minute. My body's a holy, my body's a temple of the Holy Spirit, right? But can I speak this world into being? I can speak to my checkbook, be full. We're talking about the nature of salvation.

We're talking about how to live by faith. Salvation. Those are the sound words. They've been preserved for us in the New Testament. Believers are to hold fast. They're to retain the standard, the pattern of sound words, which are the notarized, stamped blueprint of the gospel that is given to us in the New Testament.

And they're to do this, how? Verse 13, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. And I've got to touch on that quickly. How are believers to retain, to hold fast? Do you look carefully? In faith and love.

Believers are to guard the gospel. They're to hold fast the pattern in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. See, the Christian life begins by grace through faith. And we grow the same way. We guard the gospel the same way.

We hold fast the pattern the same way. By faith in Christ. See, Christ saves and Christ causes growth in the Christian life in the same way. By faith. See, and we know this. We get this. We're saved by faith.

But sanctification and growing more and more like Christ occurs the same way. See, Paul is trying, I think, to strike a balance. Timothy is to hold fast or retain the pattern of sound words. He has to be standing firm in his convictions regarding the things he had been taught.