Monday Evening, December 2, 1974
Richmond, Virginia
Ministry given through Brother Stephen Kong
Of these things put them in remembrance, testifying earnestly before the Lord not to have disputes of words, profitable for nothing, to the subversion of the hearers.
Strive diligently to present thyself approved to God, a workman that has not to be ashamed, cutting in a straight line the word of truth.
But profane, vain babblings shun, for they will advance to greater impiety, and their word will spread as a gangrene; of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who as to the truth have gone astray, saying that the resurrection has taken place already, and overthrow the faith of some.
Yet the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord knows those that are His; and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity.
But in a great house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also wooden and earthen; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
If therefore one shall have purified himself from these, in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work.
But youthful lusts flee, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
We have been fellowshipping at this time on the second letter to Timothy. As we have mentioned several times, this second letter to Timothy is the last of all the letters written by Paul. We may say that this is his last will and testament. He leaves behind him a legacy for us to receive and for us to carry home.
As Paul wrote this letter, the condition of the church in general had greatly changed. Not only was there great change inwardly, but there was great change outwardly too. Inwardly, we find the church had fallen away to a very great degree. Outwardly, the whole power of the Roman Empire was out to wipe out Christianity. Paul was put in prison.
He knew that he would soon be released from this world, and in view of that, he wrote this letter to Timothy, his beloved son in the faith.
We feel there is an analogy between the time of Paul in his last days and our time, because we are living at the end of the last days. As we live in the end of the last days, what do we see around us? Not to speak about the world, but think about the church of God. What do we see in the church? What has happened to Christianity as we know it?
There is a great similarity between our time, so far as the church is concerned, and the time of the church in Paul’s last days. Because of the corruption within, it seems as if the church today is not able to withstand the pressure that is coming from outside. We can almost see that there will be a falling away to a very great measure.
As we see the day approaching, what is the word of God to us? How can we conduct ourselves in such a time?
There is a great contrast between 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. I think everyone who reads these two epistles can see the difference. As a matter of fact, these two letters of Paul were written only within a few years of each other.
He wrote 1 Timothy after he was released from the Roman prison, after he had visited Ephesus and was expecting to revisit Ephesus. In between that time, he wrote this letter to Timothy, instructing him how to conduct oneself in the house of God.
You remember that verse in the third chapter: how to behave—not only Timothy, but everyone in the church—how to behave in the house of God. Here is the house of God, God’s habitation. God lives in that house, and because God lives in that house, we need to know how to behave in the house of God.
This house of God is the church, the assembly of the living God. The living God is in the assembly; He is among God’s people. Because of that, this assembly is the pillar and base of the truth—the deposit of the truth.
Now, knowing the church in such a way, surely we need to know how to conduct ourselves in the church. During that time, even though there was disorder and there were other teachings, Paul had to leave Timothy behind to set everything in order—to see that the elders should be of such quality, the deacons should be of such qualifications, and that everything would be done decently and in order.
Those who taught false teaching were to be stopped, so that the truth might be maintained. Even then, Paul could say that great is the mystery of godliness. This mystery of godliness is Christ and His church. It is not only Christ; it is Christ and His church—this great mystery.
So, even when Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy, there was already a certain degree of degeneration in the church. There was chaos and disorder, things other than what they should be. Yet Paul could still treat the church as the house of God, as the assembly of the living God, and as the pillar and base of truth.
In other words, he was trying to help restore the church to what it should be. That is the reason why he wrote the first letter: to tell us how to conduct ourselves when we are in such a situation.
But after only a few years, when he wrote 2 Timothy, something had happened so drastically that the condition of the church was very, very different from the time when he wrote the first letter. There were not only certain changes, some corruption, some teaching other than there should be, and some disorder in the church. It seemed that, at that time, the church had almost changed its very character.
Paul no longer speaks of the church as God’s house. Instead, in 2 Timothy, he calls the church a great house. In a great house—we know what he means—he is referring to the church. Yet he does not call it the house of God; he calls it a great house.
What is the difference between these two terms? When you say “God’s house,” it means that this house belongs to God. God is in the house. He inhabits the house. It is for His pleasure. This is what God’s house really is.
But at that time, outwardly it was still Christianity. It was still the so-called church, and yet Paul says it is a great house. How had it become great? Christianity had spread all over the world at that time. It had become great—a great house.
But as it became great, it was corrupted to the very core. Its nature began to change. That reminds us of a parable used by our Lord in Matthew 13: the parable of the mustard seed.
The mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, and the Lord uses that as an illustration of living faith. The disciples thought they needed great faith, but the Lord knows that it is not great faith; it is living faith. If your faith is as a mustard seed, it is small, and yet there is life in it. It is living.
Here you find our Lord Jesus mentioning the mustard seed. He said that the kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed. There is faith there. There is living faith there, but it is very small. If you put the mustard seed in the ground, it will grow into mustard—a vegetable, a plant.
But instead of coming up as a mustard vegetable, a plant, it becomes a tree. A mustard seed should never grow into a tree, because in God’s order of creation, each is after its kind. The plant is a plant; the tree is a tree. This is the order of creation.
Yet here you find this mustard seed that should grow into a vegetable, and unexpectedly it becomes a tree, a big tree, so that all the birds of the air come to roost in its branches. Whenever the Bible speaks of the birds of the air, we know that they signify something evil.
There is life, but instead of keeping within the bounds as God has ordered, it has become abnormally great. The church, as God has ordered it, is never meant to be great on this earth.
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
—Luke 12:32
The church is never meant to be great on this earth. It is a pearl of great price in the eyes of the merciless seeker; He has an eye for it, and it is a pearl of great price to Him. But so far as the world is concerned, it is worth nothing.
It is living, and yet to man the plant has become abnormally great. Something has gone out of the bounds of God’s order. So here you find Paul does not call it God’s house. He knows what it is, and yet he calls it a great house.
It has become great, and because it has become great, we wonder whether God dwells there. We do not know whose house it is. It has become such a mess. A great change has come upon Christianity—Christendom as such.
Dear brothers and sisters, is it not true? When we look at the church today, has it not become a great house? It is supposed to be the house of God. There should be the presence of God. When people come into His house, they should meet God; they should bow down and say, “God is indeed among you.”
But is it true? Or has it become something great in this world—great, and yet not true?
Before we describe this great house, probably we should see the connection—how Paul leads to that point. If we go back to the second chapter and begin with Paul’s exhortation to Timothy, he says, “Of these things put them in remembrance.”
The situation of Paul at that time was a reflection of the whole condition of the church. He was in prison. All in Asia had turned away from him. There was no one standing by him. Only Luke, the beloved physician, was with him. He was deserted.
If you enlarge that, it typifies the condition of Christianity and the church at that time. There was a falling away on all sides. Even those who were faithful in the beginning had begun to draw back. Only Paul, as it were, was left alone, struggling for the testimony of the Lord. He was soon to die.
Now, there was the situation at that time. How should we meet such a situation? We mentioned last night and this morning that, when the church situation is so abnormal, how should we behave ourselves so as to be considered faithful unto God? When everything is shaken and falling away, what shall we do? Shall we go with the crowd? No.
Here you find the apostle Paul saying that we have a deposit with us. When everything is changing and falling away, the deposit is still there. We mentioned last night that the deposit has two sides.
On the one hand, we have deposited ourselves in Christ. On the other hand, Christ has deposited Himself in us. We do not know what will happen to us when everything changes. We are not sure whether we too will change. Do not be so self-confident, as if everybody will fall but you will not.
Where is our confidence? Our confidence is this: we know whom we have believed, and we are fully persuaded that He is able to keep until that day the deposit which we have entrusted to Him. In other words, if we have committed ourselves—our spiritual life, our whole life on earth, and our days ahead—to Christ, He is able to keep it. We are not able, but He is able to do it.
The other side is that God has deposited Christ with us—all that we have heard and seen of Him: the truth, the gospel. God has deposited Christ in us, and if He has deposited Christ in us, how we need to keep the good deposit by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is something Paul said to Timothy: “You need to remind people about it.” When everybody is falling away, remember the deposit.
In connection with the deposit, there is a problem. Do not think that suffering is something strange to Christians. Because we have such a precious deposit with us, the enemy, of course, will not allow us to have a peaceful time.
We have to suffer for the gospel. We have to suffer for the name of Christ. We have to suffer as Christians, just as Paul had to suffer because he was a Christian. To be a Christian was a crime during those days, and this will happen to us too.
We should know that suffering is related to this deposit, so when suffering comes, it will not be strange to us. Peter said, do not suffer because you have done evil; that is shameful. But if you suffer for the name of Christ, if you suffer as a Christian, the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God rests upon you. It is not something to be ashamed of.
Paul was not ashamed of his sufferings, even though other Christians were ashamed of Paul because of his suffering. Oh, how we need to have the mind to suffer—to be prepared for it.
But thank God, in connection with suffering there is always glory. There is always appearing and there is always the kingdom. We know that the Lord is returning, and when He appears, He will bring His kingdom upon this earth.
What is the kingdom to us? It is the reward. As Paul said, there is the crown of righteousness. If we die with Him, we shall live with Him. If we endure with Him, we shall reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will deny us—not eternally, but during the kingdom. That is to say, we will lose the reward of the kingdom. Even if we should deny Him, He cannot deny Himself; He abides faithful.
We are living in such abnormal times. We need constantly to be reminded of the deposit that is with us. We need constantly to be reminded that suffering is nothing to be ashamed of. We need constantly to be reminded that if we endure, we shall reign with Him. These are the things that will strengthen us and help us to press on. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
As we are reminded of these things, Paul exhorts Timothy to become a person approved of God—not trying to be popular or to be approved of by people, but trying to be a person approved of God.
When everything begins to change and fall away, what are you seeking? Seek to be approved of God. Avoid all these profane things, vain babblings, disputes of words, all these nonessentials and philosophical discourses. Shun these things, but rightly divide the word of God, holding fast the word of God.
Some people professed that they had greater knowledge—Hymenaeus and Philetus. They perverted the truth. They said that the resurrection had already happened. Now, what does that mean?
It may mean that resurrection is only the resurrection of your spirit. That is to say, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, you are resurrected. There is no bodily resurrection; resurrection is merely your spirit being resurrected.
It sounds very spiritual, but it is a strange thing. Only recently—just last week—I heard someone preaching this, a great preacher well known in this country. He was preaching that resurrection is regeneration: when you are regenerated, you are resurrected, and that is it.
But it takes away our hope—the blessed hope, even the adoption, the redemption of our body. Here you find that when people begin to move away from God, they think they know.
Paul’s exhortation to Timothy was to hold on to the truth. In that connection he said, “Yet the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord knows those that are His; and, Let everyone who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity.”
It is as if the house is going to fall down completely. But Paul says, “The firm foundation of God stands.” No matter what happens to the outward structure of the house, the firm foundation of God stands firm. You cannot shake the foundation.
What is the seal upon the foundation? “The Lord knows those that are His.”
Dear brothers and sisters, when everything is in confusion, God is not confused. We do not know what is true and what is false. We are confused—literally confused. Everything may be thrown into turmoil. The whole church condition may be in ruin. But the firm foundation of God stands. He knows those that are His.
What a comfort it is! He knows. Brothers and sisters, people may not know. We are living in a day when people will take falsehood as truth, and truth as falsehood. They will consider light as darkness and darkness as light. People’s ears will be so itching that they just want to hear what they like to hear. There will come a time when nobody wants to hear the truth.
Then you begin to wonder, “What is the truth? Am I following the truth?” Everything is so confused. But there is one thing that stands firm: the Lord knows. What does it matter if people do not know? What does it matter if people misunderstand? What does it matter if people call you an evildoer, a criminal? What does it matter, if only the Lord knows?
Dear brothers and sisters, as we come to the end, it is not appearance that matters; it is reality. It is not what appears before man that really matters; it is the sight of God. The Lord knows those that are His. There is that seal there.
The Lord knows, but how do you know? How do you know whether you are His? How do you know whether you are following Him? Of course, we have the witness of the Holy Spirit within us. If we follow Him, He will let us know. But there is another evidence: “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
The Lord knows those that are His. But on the other side, let everyone who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity. What do you think iniquity is?
Oftentimes we think of iniquity as doing something very sinful. Of course, that is iniquity. But when you read the context, you find that the iniquity here means something deeper than what we ordinarily call sin or evil.
A priest in the temple has to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. In other words, it is not merely something sinful that you do in the world. It is something done in the sanctuary that is not according to the will of God.
For example, Aaron’s two sons, on the very first day of their priesthood—we do not know why they got drunk—began to offer strange fire to God. They went into the tabernacle to burn incense to God. That was commendable; that was good. But they did it without the order of their father.
They were supposed to serve God under Aaron. Aaron, as high priest, was over the priesthood. But instead of following their father’s order, these two brothers did what came into their minds. They wanted to offer incense, and they went ahead and did it.
Instead of taking the fire from the altar, which came down from heaven, they took strange fire to burn incense to God. From all outward appearances, they were worshipping God, but they committed the iniquity of the sanctuary. They were burned to death by the fire that came from the presence of God.
Brothers and sisters, you find the whole context is not in connection with the world, nor with things committed in the world. The whole connection is within the house. In the house, it has become such a great house.
It has become such a confusion. You do not know who is the Lord’s and who is not. But the foundation stands firm: the Lord knows those that are His.
On our part, how do we know that we are the Lord’s? It is true that the Holy Spirit within us will tell us. But all who name the name of the Lord must withdraw from iniquity.
I believe that iniquity here speaks more deeply than some sinful things you do in the world. Of course, these things are iniquities. But I believe that iniquity here has a deeper application: if you name the name of the Lord, then you have to do the will of the Lord. Anything that is not in the will of the Lord is iniquity in His sight.
You name the name of the Lord, and yet you do things on your own. These two are not compatible; they are contradictory to each other. How can you name the name of the Lord and go ahead and do your own will?
All who name the name of the Lord must withdraw from iniquity. That is to say, we have not only to name the name of the Lord, but there must be the reality of it too.
Dear brothers and sisters, is it true that in our lives we not only name the name of the Lord, but we walk in His will? That is to say, is His name real to us? What is the name of the Lord? The name of the Lord represents Himself—His headship, His lordship, His authority.
In this connection Paul says, “In a great house.” That is the connection. Paul is not talking about the people in this world; he is talking about people in the house. Because the condition of the church has so changed, we may say its very character has changed.
Now, what do we do? In a great house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also wooden and earthen vessels; some are to honour and some to dishonour.
When you enter into the temple, when you enter into the tabernacle, all the vessels are of gold. In the holy place there is nothing but gold.
Yet in this great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also vessels of wood and earth, just like an ordinary house. In an ordinary house, probably in your dining room, you have silver, or perhaps gold; but in your kitchen you have lots of wooden and earthen vessels.
Instead of seeing the picture of the sanctuary, which is all gold and silver, you now have wood and earth. Gold in Scripture speaks of God’s nature. Silver in Scripture speaks of the redemption of our Lord Jesus.
In God’s house, everything speaks of the nature of God and of the work of redemption of our Lord Jesus. That is to say, everything is of Him. But wood and earth speak of human nature. Gold is divine nature; silver is the redemptive work of Christ; but earth is the work of man—the work of the flesh.
Here in the great house, you find gold and silver vessels, and wooden and earthen vessels. The golden and silver vessels are to honour, for honourable purposes. But the wooden and earthen vessels are for dishonour. In the great house, you have both.
These vessels represent each individual. Every individual believer is a vessel. We are all vessels. We are all for a purpose. We are all to serve the Master, prepared for every good work.
But you find among believers there are two different kinds. Some live in the divine life by the redemptive work of Christ—gold and silver. Some live by their human nature and do the work in the flesh. Among believers, there are these two different kinds of vessels.
What does it mean that so-and-so is a gold vessel, or a silver vessel, but so-and-so is a wooden vessel, or an earthen vessel? If you read on, you find: “If therefore one shall have purified himself from these, in separating himself from them, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
In other words, you may be a gold or silver vessel, or you may be a wooden and earthen vessel. It depends on you. God is not partial. He has not predestinated you to be a gold vessel and another person to be a wooden vessel. No, the grace of God has no partiality. He gives His grace to all of us just the same.
Yet you find that there is a responsibility upon each individual. Dear brothers and sisters, when the church begins to enter into ruin, when the church enters into chaos and confusion, there is a personal responsibility that comes upon every believer.
When the flow is in the right direction, you just flow along. But when the flow is in a wrong direction, then each one has a responsibility. You may be a gold and silver vessel, a vessel to honour, but you may also be a vessel to dishonour. It is up to you.
What makes the difference? If you purify yourself from these. What are these? These are the wooden and earthen vessels. In other words, if you are not willing simply to be a wooden and earthen vessel, then you may be purified from these things.
Some people are quite content to be such. They say, “After all, I will go to heaven. Why should I deny myself, take up my cross, and follow the Lord? Let me have a good time today. I want the benefits of the two worlds—this present world and the world to come.”
If you are content to be such, if you are content to be an earthen and wooden vessel, you will be such a vessel. There is no one to force you otherwise. God will allow you to do that, and that is what you will be—a vessel to dishonour.
But if your heart is really toward the Lord—“Lord, I do not want to be a vessel to dishonour to You. I want to be a vessel unto honour for Your sake”—then purify yourself from these.
If you are willing to deny yourself, if you are willing to take up the cross, if you are willing to let go of the works of the flesh, if you are willing to yield yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to put to death the wood and the earth, then you know what will happen: you will become a golden vessel, a vessel to honour.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have tremendous individual responsibility. Everyone is responsible, especially in abnormal times. Whether we want to go with the crowd, because it is easy, or whether we want to withdraw ourselves from iniquity because we name the name of the Lord—this is our responsibility.
Now, if anyone shall have purified himself from these, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, serviceable to the Master, prepared for every good work. That is the first thing.
Then secondly, Paul says, “But youthful lusts flee, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.”
First, there is an individual responsibility. But we all know that, so far as God’s purpose is concerned, it is never individual; it is always corporate. Yet when we see the corporate testimony falling apart, each one has to stand on his own feet before the Lord. That would be right.
When the corporate testimony seems to be falling apart, when the church seems to be entering into ruin, individual responsibility becomes essential. But you do not stop after you have responded to the Lord and purified yourself from the wood and earth.
You have to be purified from the earth and the wood; then you will become gold and silver. But after you have taken this stand, does it mean that God has given up the corporate testimony? No.
“Flee youthful lusts.” Of course, this primarily refers to Timothy because he was comparatively a younger person. But we must remember that the youthful lusts here do not apply only to sexual lusts and things like that. Youthful lusts are much broader than that.
After you have withdrawn yourself from all iniquity and sought to keep yourself pure, that would be a natural reaction, and this is true. But after you have done that, you have to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace—not alone, but with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
Thank God, God never gives us up. Men may fail, but God never gives up. When the general condition of the church falls away, God is calling not merely for one individual, not merely for individuals scattered apart, but for individuals who call upon the name of the Lord out of a pure heart.
Our problem is that when we see the general condition of the church falling away, we say the corporate testimony is gone. But that is not so with God. You have to begin that life, but when the Lord begins to exercise you to be faithful to Him, you will find another who loves Him.
Elijah said, “I am the only one left,” but God had His seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. God still has His testimony.
Even in this abnormal time, God is calling the overcomers. This is the principle of the overcomers. When the general testimony degenerates, how is the testimony of the Lord to be maintained?
Christianity in general may have no hope, but God does not give up. He is calling His people. He is calling you out of the ruinous condition to be faithful to Him and to resume the testimony of the Lord.
Here you find in 2 Timothy 2, Paul is speaking to Timothy. In the beginning of the chapter he says:
Thou therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things which thou hast heard of me in the presence of many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men, such as shall be competent to teach others also.
—2 Timothy 2:1–2
Here you find that it is not a matter of office. Nothing official is mentioned. It is a matter of reality. Paul is handing over to Timothy the deposit, and Timothy is to hand it over to faithful men who will be competent to teach others also.
That is to say, the testimony is to be carried on, not by official position, but by faithful people.
You find this principle in Old Testament times. When Israel as a nation failed God and was taken into Babylonian captivity, God restored His testimony on earth. So a remnant returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. However weak they were, by God’s grace that testimony was maintained.
Dear brothers and sisters, when you come to the last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, in chapters 2 and 3, the Lord wrote seven letters to the seven churches through the apostle John.
When these letters were written, the condition of the churches was no longer normal. In every church, you find something drastically wrong. Yet in every letter there is a call for overcomers: “He that overcomes.”
Even though the general condition has fallen, the Lord is calling for those who will overcome, who will respond to Him and to His revelation. Those who respond to His revelation are the overcomers, and they are to maintain the testimony of Jesus.
What they do is considered by God as the normal. The principle of overcoming is God’s principle of viewing as normal.
Do you think we can expect Christianity as such to be restored completely to the early days, as we find in the book of Acts? The more you look at Christianity, the more you realize how impossible it is.
But thank God, as the church seems to go in one direction, further and further away, until finally, as we find in Scripture, it is absorbed into that one religion under the Antichrist—even Christianity becoming anti-Christ—on the other hand the Lord is calling His people out.
The Lord is calling His people to respond to Him. Thank God, you do find people who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart, and the Lord is gathering them together.
The testimony of Jesus is to be maintained by those who call upon the name of the Lord out of a pure heart—not alone, but with those who call upon Him. Dear brothers and sisters, we believe that is what the Lord is doing today.
The Lord knows those that are His; but let everyone who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank You that Your purpose can never be defeated. How we praise and thank You that man may fail, but You fail not.
We praise You because You have Your way when everything seems to be in ruin. You have a way to restore and to maintain Your testimony.
O Lord, do reveal Your way, that we may walk in Your way. O Lord, that we may be serviceable to You. Have mercy upon us. We ask in the name of our Lord Jesus.