Thursday, August 20, 2009

Trust

1 Timothy 6:20 KJV
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

The preacher has something that is committed to his trust; it is not his own.
In Timothy's case, it had been committed to him by Apostle Paul.
Paul's investment in time and training must not go to waste. Timothy was not free to do with what he had been taught as he would. Paul trusted Timothy to keep it, guard it, and grow it.

It had been committed to him through the "laying on of hands of the presbytery" [1]
This is the only reference in the Bible to Timothy's ordination. Gill suggests that this "presbytery" (literally, eldership) must have been the apostles since Philip did not lay hands on those in Samaria but waited for Peter and John. Timothy's calling and ministry were not of his own making. Others had invested in him. They had placed their trust in him to keep what was committed to him.

It had been committed to him by the LordThis of course is the ultimate trust. That Jesus Christ would count us faithful and put us in the ministry is a fact too grand to grasp.

The preaching of the gospel is not ours to do with as we please. We are not to regard this as having come to us of our own, but as having been passed down to us. To change courses in methods, ministry or message is to break the trust of those who have handled the ministry before us. God help us to keep what has been committed to us.
[1] (1 Timothy 4:14)

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