Opening illustration: Many years ago, there was a learned Hebrew professor at Princeton Seminary named Robert Dick Wilson. He could read more than 30 Semitic languages! One time about twelve years after Donald Grey Barnhouse had graduated; he went back to the seminary to preach to the students. Dr. Wilson sat down near the front. After the message, he went forward and shook Barnhouse’s hand. He said, “When my boys come back, I come to see if they are big-godders or little-godders, and then I know what their ministry will be.”
Barnhouse asked him to explain and he replied, “Well, some men have a little god and they are always in trouble with him. He can’t do any miracles. He can’t take care of the inspiration and transmission of the Scripture to us. He doesn’t intervene on behalf of His people. They have a little god and I call them little-godders. Then there are those who have a great God. He speaks and it is done. He commands and it stands fast. He knows how to show Himself strong on behalf of them that fear Him.” He went on to tell Barnhouse that he could see that he had a great God and that God would bless him and his mission.
Let us turn to 2 Timothy 2 and check out whether we have a big-godder or a little-godder in us. Apparently the way we hallow Christ in our daily walk also shows whether we are hallowing (sanctifying; pursuing holiness) ourselves continually.
Introduction: Paul had been returned to a Roman prison but this time he was chained in a cold dungeon and everyone except Luke had abandoned him [ref. 4:11]. He was lonely and wrote this letter to his “son in the faith,” encouraging Timothy to take courage and “fan into flame the gift of God.” Paul wrote how thankful he was for Timothy [1:3-5] and exhorted him not be timid, ashamed, or fearful to testify about the Lord [1:8] even amidst the perilous days of Emperor Nero’s rule. Paul knew that he would soon be martyred for his faith. He therefore wanted to impart to Timothy key principles for ministering in the latter days. He calls Timothy to disciple others [v.2:2]; to endure hardship like a soldier [2:3-4]; to be as disciplined as an elite athlete [v.2:5]; and to work as hard as a farmer whose goal is a great harvest [v.2:6]. He is to be a workman that majors in the majors and “correctly handles the word of truth” [v.2:15]. And finally he is to be a vessel (i.e., a clean instrument) to be used for God’s glory [vv.2:19-26].
How to be vessels of honor?
1. Building on Firm foundation (v. 19)
The church is the society, the association which God has founded; the church is God’s foundation. Stand fast - Can never be overthrown; being as it were sealed with a seal, which has an inscription on each side: on the one, The Lord knows those that are his; on the other, Let everyone who calls the name of the Lord, as his Lord, depart from iniquity. As long as this foundation remained firm, there was no reason to be troubled from the few instances of apostasy which had occurred. The word “seal” is sometimes used to denote the instrument, by which an impression is made, and sometimes the impression or inscription itself. A seal is used for security Matthew 27: 66, or as a mark of genuineness; Revelation 9: 4 and ownership. It was used to denote the brandmark, what we call the trademark. The seal is an inscription which shows at once what it is and what it is designed to be. Just as the building of a church has a cross to seal it that it is a place of worship for Christians, the Word of God tells us that we are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1: 13). What a protective brandmark! The seal here is one that was affixed to the foundation, and seems to refer to some inscription on the foundation-stone which always remained there, and which denoted the character and design of the edifice. The allusion is to the custom, in rearing an edifice, of inscribing the name of the builder and the design of the edifice on the cornerstone. The foundation has two inscriptions - the first implying that God knows all who are his own people; the other, that all who are his professed people should depart from evil. The phrase "The Lord knows those who are His," has not been lifted from the OT but is very close to what Moses said to his rebellious friends and associates of Korah in Numbers 16: 5 “… Tomorrow morning the LORD will show who is His and who is holy, and will cause him to come near to Him ...”
The word ‘foundation’ has been used in a double sense ~
The first one tells us that the church consists of those who belong to God, of those who have given themselves to God in such a way that they no longer possess themselves, and the world no longer possesses them, but God possesses them. The church consists of those who have given themselves to God to do with them as He pleases.
The second one tells us that the church consists of those who have departed from unrighteousness. That is not to say that the church consists of perfect people. If that were so, there would be no church. It has been said that the great interest of God is not so much in where a man has reached as in the direction in which a man is facing. And the church consists of those whose faces are turned to holiness and righteousness. They may often fail and they may often fall, and the goal may sometimes seem tragically and distressingly far away, but their faces are ever towards the goal and their desires are ever towards righteousness. The church consists of those who belong to God and those who have dedicated themselves to the struggle for righteousness.
2. Pursuing Cleansing and Righteousness (vs. 20 – 22)
Honor and dishonor do not refer to true and false Christians, respectively. Jesus makes clear in the parable of the wheat and tares (Matt. 13:24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30) and in His teaching about the sheep and goats judgment of the nations (Matt. 25:31-46) that the visible church on earth will contain both unbelievers and believers until He returns and orders the final separation. But Paul is not speaking about that distinction. (Ro 12:3, 6-see notes Ro12:3; 6, 1Co 12:17,18)... Honor and dishonor therefore refer to the ways in which genuine believers are found useful to the Lord in fulfilling the work to which He has called them. In this sense, all believers should be, but are not always, vessels of honor. Some to most honorable uses - as drinking vessels, and vessels to contain costly viands, and some for the less honorable purposes connected with cooking, etc. The same thing is to be expected in the church. If a man “cleanse” or “purify” himself ~ the word “these” refers, here, to the persons represented by the vessels of wood and of earth - the vessels made to dishonor, as mentioned in verse 20. The idea is, that if one would preserve himself from the corrupting influence of such men, he would be fitted to be a vessel of honor, or to be employed in the most useful and honorable service in the cause of his Master. A vessel that is an excellent one, full of the heavenly treasure of the Gospel, full of the gifts and graces of the Spirit, and so very fit and richly qualified for the use and service of Christ. Flee from youthful lusts ~ this is the most bewitching passion in the human heart. Both in Church and state it is ruinous; but particularly so in the former. Timothy was now between thirty and forty years of age, the very age in which ambition and the love of power most generally prevail. Carnal pleasures are the sins of youth; ambition and the love of power the sins of middle age; covetousness and carking cares the crimes of old age.
Those who criticize the ‘Body of Christ’ do so because there are imperfect and unsatisfactory people in it composed of mere men and women. It is not given us to judge as judgment belongs to the Lord. As Christians we should never think of fitting ourselves for honor; every Christian must always think of himself as fitting himself for service. Let us not forget that only God is good. We are only pursuing to be in Christ-likeness. None of us can be God.
3. Having a Christ-like walk and talk (vs. 23 – 26)
The more we follow that which is good, the faster and the further we shall flee from that which is evil. These emerge from being impatient. Do you just want to argue and prove that you’re right, or are you concerned about godliness and love? Quarreling or winning an argument does not lead anyone to Christ nor does it build up your brother in true godliness. If you must correct, your aim should be to help your brother grow in the Lord. Correction must be done wisely. Teaching, not persecution, is the Scripture method of dealing with those in error. The same God who gives the discovery of the truth, by his grace brings us to acknowledge it, otherwise our hearts would continue to rebel against it. There is no “peradventure,” in respect of God’s pardoning those who do repent; but we cannot tell that he will give repentance to those who oppose his will. Sinners are taken in a snare, and in the worst snare, because it is the devil’s; they are slaves to him. And if any long for deliverance, let them remember they never can escape, except by repentance, which is the gift of God; and we must ask it of him by earnest, persevering prayer.
The Christian is to pursue righteousness, which means giving both to men and to God their due; at faith, which means loyalty and reliability which both come from trust in God; at love, which is the utter determination never to seek anything but the highest good of all, no matter what they do to us … As a believer we must stay away from senseless controversies. Whenever we point out a fault (admonish) do it in love. Not only we must know the truth but also be able to articulate it. We must able to take injury, reviling and humiliation just as Jesus accepted them. Disciplining the opponents in gentleness is like a skillful surgeon doing micro-surgery without error. Our speech should (though God does it) awaken people to repentance and the desire for truth, especially those who are caught in a snare. It is the body of Christ that opens the door to a heart which has distant itself from God.
Application: When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, he said, “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name …” Do we hallow the name of our Lord God at every moment of our life? Do we pursue to be sanctified by Christ on a daily basis? It has been already done by Christ by shedding His blood on the cross. We just need to accept Him as our Lord, Savior and King.
