Greetings, radio friends, in the ever-precious name of our lovely Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. We welcome you to another series of studies as we continue in the precious Word of God our meditation upon the second epistle of Paul written to Timothy. We would like to begin reading today from the thirteenth verse to the end of this chapter. The words of the apostles saying, Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me, of whom is Phygellus and Hermogenes. The Lord gave mercy unto the house of Onesipharus, for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my change. But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. May God the Holy Spirit bless the reading and the hearing of His Word, and may our hearts be tuned, and our minds instructed as we meditate upon the portion before us. May I repeat, without apology, the emphasis of this second epistle written by Paul to Timothy, and give to you the brief outline which we are following that is so pertinent to the truth of Christianity in the last days. We have emphasized and shall continue to do so, that the great message of chapter one is, hold the truth. Do not give up any of it. The message of chapter two is, teach the truth. Pass it on to others, particularly faithful men, competent to teach others the truth. And the third chapter reveals the responsibility of abiding in the truth, and continuing in the revelation of God's divine truth, the Word of God. The last chapter brings before us the emphasis of preaching the Word, proclaim that Word, be urgent in season and out of season, convict, rebuke, and courage with all long-suffering and doctrine. These are the outlines of each chapter in the second epistle of Timothy. We come to the central emphasis of the first chapter today in our reading and study, where in the thirteenth verse, Timothy is exhorted, whole fact, the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Timothy is instructed to have an outline, a summary of the truth of God so that he may be able to state that truth clearly and definitely regarding that which he held. The Greek text means a systematic exposition in outline of any system of doctrine or even philosophy. My beloved Christian, I would like to emphasize and emphasize definitely and heavily the necessity of knowing the Word of God and of knowing the outline of its precious truth as revealed by the Holy Spirit within its pages. It's a good thing to know your Bible. I would encourage every believer to give himself and herself to the study of the Word of God. Why, it's in the second chapter of this same book that Paul admonishes, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. May I challenge my fellow believers as to your study in the Word of God? Do you give any time to Bible study? The greatest book in the world is the Bible. It is eternal. Said the Lord Jesus, heaven and earth will pass away, but my word shall never pass away. And when all other philosophies, when all other books and writings of men have disappeared, The divine Word of God will go on forever. I commend to you as well as exhort and encourage you to give time to the study of the Word of God. Know what you believe. Know what God's Word teaches. In other words, know your Bible. Many years ago there was a group of young people, young Christians, who had what they called the K-Y-B class. And what it meant was virtually this, know your Bible. Each letter, the beginning of each word. K-Y-B, know your Bible. May I suggest that you join the club and get to know your Bible. Timothy knew it. Timothy had been taught. Timothy had received great instructions from his godly grandmother, from his godly mother. and from his beloved Father in the faith, Paul, together with the contemporaries of the beloved Apostle and the disciples in those early days. Now here is the challenge of God and the great responsibility that is given in the days of declension and spiritual departure from the truth of God as we see it. Hold fast the form of sound words, the outline of God's truth. Don't give anything up. But hold it fast and know it and test it, both in doctrine as well as in practice. And how well Paul could say, and may I repeat this emphasis, Oh fast, the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me. Now I would like to make a special emphasis of these words, the phrase that Paul states, which thou hast heard of me. In other words, Pauline doctrine is greatly important. We have many writers in the Word of God, and in our New Testament epistles. We have Matthew, we have Mark, we have Luke, we have John, we have James, we have Peter, and thus we see there are many varied writers. But may I say very humbly, but very sincerely, Of all the apostolic New Testament writers, preeminently God chose and commissioned one man among them all to be the revealer of divine truth in relation to the church age. And that man is Paul. And we need the writings of Paul. Now I am aware and I have faith the very fact. that there are some and one has said it to my personal knowledge. Supposedly one of the professors of one of the great bodies of Christendom. He stated we do not need Paul's letters. My beloved believer we need Paul's ministry more than we need any others at the present time. It is Paul in his revelation of truth that gives the true guidance concerning the responsibility and the administrative responsibility of the Church upon the earth and the individual believers' responsibility to that administrative and corporate truth of the Church. We are thus endeavored to the Apostle Paul for the truth that the Christian age is to keep And when you read the Pauline epistles, beginning with Romans, going down to the epistle of the Thessalonians, you have embodied what we can rightfully call the great teaching of church truth in all of its character and revelation. Hold it, says Paul. They are sound words. Have an outline of them. And you've heard it of me. Hold it in faith and hold it in love, which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, my beloved, may I encourage my fellow Christians, will you get into your Bible? Will you see what it teaches in relation to the truth of God? Will you not seek by his grace to stir up your conscience, to stir up your heart, to stir up your life, and ask yourself the question, am I keeping the word of God? am I following its teaching according to the revelation of the Spirit of God? And when you find that truth, hold it. Don't give it up. And note Paul adds in the fourteenth verse, That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in thee, or renounce I'm sure you can recognize the beloved apostle realizes as well as states that the keeping power of the truth must be in the energy of the Holy Spirit of God himself. That good thing which is committed unto thee, what was the good thing? It was the truth of God. It was the body of Holy Scripture. Keep and keep it by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. My beloved Christian, may I state that in every believer is the presence of the Holy Spirit of God, and by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit you and I are thus given enabling grace and power to keep the truth of God. May I be very careful, and may I be very clear, To state that the power of the Holy Spirit is indeed the necessity to keep the truth of God today. And every Christian cannot excuse himself nor herself from not keeping the word of God. For the Holy Spirit is the enabling power dwelling within every believer. Keep by the Holy Ghost that which has been committed to you. Now as Paul closes this section of our chapter, he touches upon the departure of many in that day. But oh, before he touches upon that departure, how he cries out the emphasis of holding to the truth. My fellow Christian, will you take your Bible? Will you not study it? Will you not obey it? Will you not seek its truth and hold it at whatever cost? And you do not say, turn to that Bible for your salvation and find it in Christ, who alone can say, Again our time has run away, and we must commend to God the blessing of his word, shall we pray. To thy spirit, Father, we commend the hallowed blessing of thy truth as we have proclaimed it. To the hearts of believers and unbelievers alike, to the glory of our Savior, in his worthy name, amen.