O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid irreverent, empty chatter and the opposing arguments of so-called “knowledge,”Timothy, guard that which is committed to you, turning away from the empty chatter and oppositions of what is falsely called knowledge,O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:O Timothy, guard that which is committed unto thee, turning away from the profane babblings and oppositions of the knowledge which is falsely so called;
3 sermons cite this verse
… You know, the pastor's vigilance is proven not by how educated he sounds, but by what he does with what has been entrusted to him when the temptation to be sophisticated comes knocking. But he guards it. He turns from what threatens it. And he takes seriously that real men have lost their footing exactly where he now stands. Now, I wish we had time to walk through all of this epistle because Paul ends it here really as he began it. It's his final word to Timothy, but it circles all the way back to his opening charge to Timothy in chapter 1, in verse 18, where he mentions two men by name, Hymenaeus and Alexander. And he calls them out. He says, they've already made shipwreck of their faith. so at the very end, you know, like a good parent, you save those, your most important words for the last, the last instruction to give your kids when you're sending them off to camp or to someone else's house or to school for the first day, you know, you tell them those final instructions, hey, be nice, use your manners, say please, thank you, flush, all those things, you you want your final words to be ringing in their ears as they they go off into what's coming and this is what paul says oh oh timothy i mean he reaches for the same direct personal address with which he opened the letter timothy my child i charge you this is the last thing paul wants …
And I invite you to turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 6. And as you find that passage of Scripture there, the final two verses, we're going to pause just for a moment and ask God to help us as we study the Bible together. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 20. Father, take my words and speak through them. Take our minds and help us to think. take our hearts and bring them to conviction and renewed conviction about Christ and about the gospel and about Christian service and about our place in history. For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen. Now, let me read verse 20 and 21. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care, turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed, and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you. Now, it is clear not only from this, but also from the opening section of this letter, that Paul's preoccupation, if you like, purposefully throughout the letter has been with this problem of false teaching, and specifically these false teachers. …
… And at the end of the first letter, chapter 6, Paul says to Timothy, this is the very close of the book, O Timothy, chapter 6, verse 20, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid worldly and empty chatter, and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge, But some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Guard what has been entrusted to you." This is the stewardship of the mysteries of God. Guard your heart, of course, but also guard the mysteries of God. In 2 Timothy, chapter 1, just in the next page or so, verse 11, Paul says, I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. He entrusted His Word to me, and I have entrusted my service to Him. And then he says to Timothy in verse 13, "'Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me. …