was entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:14). He instructs Timothy to guard the sound words—the doctrines that Paul has taught him—and to entrust them to reliable people (2:2). A key aspect of guarding the truth is this idea of preservation. Paul tells Timothy that one of the reasons his instruction is necessary is the sad fact that his closest friends and ministry partners have deserted him: “You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes” (1:15). Paul