Will you please turn to 2 Timothy Chapter 2? We will begin with Verse 19 and continue through Verse 22.
Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His: and, Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work.
But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.—2 Timothy 2:19-22
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather together here in Thy holy name, we want to thank Thee for being so loving, so kind, so gracious, and so merciful to us.
It is only because of Thy grace that we are here. So we are all gathered together this morning in Thy presence.
May Thy glory fill this place. Speak, Lord; Thy servants hear. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
The Apostle Paul wrote the second letter to Timothy before he was martyred. He told us that we are living in the last days.
In 2 Timothy 3:1, he says, “But know this, that in the last days difficult times shall come.”
Now, the term the last days, or the end of days, is a Hebrew expression. It refers to the end of the period of the law, which introduces the coming of the Messiah.
So, from the first coming of our Lord Jesus to the second coming of the Lord Jesus, these days are called the last days. Even in the time of Paul, it was already the beginning of the last days. And, of course, we who are living in the twenty-first century are at the end of the last days.
The Apostle Paul said that in the last days difficult times will come. Now, he speaks this to God’s people. In other words, from the coming of our Lord Jesus until His return, all these years have been difficult times to God’s people.
Not only are they difficult times for the people of the world, but they are especially difficult for God’s own people. Now, why is it so?
Because our Lord Jesus is the truth, and when truth comes to light, it exposes all falsehood. Our Lord Jesus is righteousness, and His righteousness reveals all wicked lawlessness. Our Lord is love, and His love reveals all hatred in the world. Our Lord is holy, and His holiness reveals all wickedness.
The Bible tells us that when light comes into the world, the world loves darkness, and people will not come to the light. Not only that, but they hate the light. As a result, they put our Lord Jesus on the cross.
Now, brothers and sisters, if this happened to our Lord Jesus, what can we expect in this world? What can we expect in this wicked, dark world? Can we expect something better than our Lord Jesus?
That is the reason why you find in Hebrews Chapter 13 that we should go outside the camp and bear the reproach of Christ. Why? In other words, where our Lord Jesus is, that is where we should go.
And if we really follow the Lord Jesus, we will suffer difficulties, just like our Lord Jesus when He was on earth.
Brothers and sisters, if in the time of the Apostle Paul these were difficult times, how much more difficult will it be for us in this time?
We find that it is difficult not only so far as the world is concerned. The world becomes more and more difficult. But we find that even in the church, among God’s people, everything is increasingly difficult today.
In the third chapter of 2 Timothy, Paul begins to describe the difficulties of the time. He describes what happens not only in the world, but in the church.
He says that in the last days people will be lovers of pleasure, lovers of self, and not lovers of God. They will not be lovers of good.
And this describes God’s people. He is not describing the world. Of course, the world loves pleasure. Of course, the world loves itself. Of course, worldly people love money. That is perfectly understandable.
But for God’s people, instead of loving God and instead of loving what is good, they are no different from the people in the world. They also love pleasure. They want to enjoy the world. They also love money; money is almost like a god. And they love themselves.
If we are living in this kind of atmosphere, do you think it is easy to really love God? Do you think it is easy for you to follow the Lord Jesus?
Our Lord Jesus, when He was on earth, said, “Because lawlessness is multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold.” Again, our Lord Jesus said in Luke Chapter 18, “When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?”
So we find that we are living in a difficult time. It is very difficult for God’s people to really follow the Lord.
Now, as we are surrounded by such a situation, what should we do? Are we going with the world? Are we going with fallen Christianity? How are we going to cope with such a situation?
You know, when you read 1 Timothy 3:15, the Apostle Paul tells us what the church is. The church is God’s house, the church of the living God. It is the pillar and ground of the truth, and it is the great mystery of godliness.
Now, this is what the church ought to be. And yet, when you come into 2 Timothy, only within a few years the situation had changed.
Paul wrote 1 Timothy after his first imprisonment in Rome. After that imprisonment, he was released for a while. During those few years, he was still able to travel, and he even visited Spain.
But after just a few years, the situation completely changed. If you read Roman history, you find that Nero burned the city of Rome.
When the people were angry about it, Nero tried to find a scapegoat, and he charged the Christians with burning Rome. So great persecution came to the believers.
Paul was rearrested and put in a dungeon. He knew that the time of his martyrdom had arrived. So he wrote to Timothy, his beloved son in the Lord, asking him to come so that he might see him for the last time.
At that time everything had changed. It was very difficult for believers to maintain their faith. It was extremely difficult for believers to love God.
It was during that kind of atmosphere that Paul wrote the second letter to Timothy, to encourage this young man not to be discouraged by what was happening around him. On the contrary, he should press on to the goal.
And that is 2 Timothy. We would like to consider together: when we are under that kind of difficult situation, when we look around and everything is discouraging, when we look at ourselves and wonder whether we are able to continue on, what should we do?
Is there any word from God to encourage us? Will God show us a way? How can we walk during such difficult times? The whole world is falling apart. The church is falling away. What should we do? Where is our way?
And that is what you find in the passage we just read. It begins with a statement: “Yet the firm foundation of God standeth.”
Everything changes, but God remains the same. Everything today is being shaken. In Hebrews we are told that the day will come—and now it is here—when not only the earth will be shaken, but even the heaven will be shaken.
Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Only the everlasting kingdom can remain.
Brothers and sisters, there is one thing that never changes: God’s foundation stands. Our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is the Rock on which we stand.
How comforting that is. Everything is changing; everything is shaken. But God’s foundation stands firm. God is the same forever. He is our Rock. We stand on Him, and we will never be shaken. Nothing can shake us off because we are standing on Him.
You remember what our Lord Jesus said after Peter confessed Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Our Lord Jesus said, “Thou art Peter,” a little rock, “and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
All the gates of Hades have been opened. All the evil forces of the enemy, Satan, are released, and all these forces concentrate upon the church of God. But what is built on that Rock, the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
If you see anything being shaken away in the church, you know it is not of God. It is man’s work. But whatever is built on the Rock, whatever is of Christ, can never be shaken. It will never be overcome, because our Lord Jesus is the foundation Rock, and we are building upon Him.
So, brothers and sisters, let us remember: in spite of all that surrounds us, and in spite of feeling ourselves to be weak and feeble, we look unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith. That is the only way we can stand.
Why is it that God’s foundation stands firm? If anything is built upon the foundation of Christ—if your spiritual life is built on the foundation of Christ, if the church is built on the foundation of Christ—then you will never be shaken.
And then you find that Paul looks at it from two sides: from God’s side, and then from man’s side. He says, “Having this seal: The Lord knoweth them that are His.”
Among so many people, we do not know one another. The Bible tells us that the human heart is so evil that no one knows his own heart. Everyone is deceived by his own heart, and how we deceive one another. But God knows. God knows those who are His.
He puts a seal upon them. In Old Testament times, and even in Revelation Chapter 7, you find this symbolic way of speaking. When judgment is coming, God puts His seal upon the foreheads of those who are His.
The seal simply means that He claims them as His own. In the old days, people would go into the forest to purchase wood. They all had a seal in their pockets. If you saw a tree that you wanted to buy, you put your seal on it. It meant, “This tree is mine now.”
So a seal means possession: “This is Mine.” God puts His seal upon those who are His. It is the seal of the Holy Spirit.
In Ephesians Chapter 1, we are told that we are sealed with the Spirit of God. He possesses us. Not only does He possess us, but He protects us. Not only does He protect us, but He approves us.
You know, in Matthew Chapter 7, our Lord Jesus said that when He comes, people will come to Him and say, “I prophesied in Your name. I did miracles in Your name.” But the Lord will say, “I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”
Why? Because you do not do My will. You call Me, “Lord, Lord,” but you do not obey Me. You do things on your own. I do not approve of you.
So, brothers and sisters, from God’s side, those who are really His have His seal in them. He claims them as His own, He protects them, and He approves them if they are really His.
Now that is from God’s side. Then there is man’s side: “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
God knows who are His, and He puts His seal upon those whom He claims as His own. But how do we know that we are His? The seal is not a physical thing. How do we know?
We know because the Bible says, “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
What is iniquity? Iniquity is lawlessness—against the law of God, against the will of God, against the heart of God. Lawlessness is unrighteousness: things that are not right in the sight of God. Because God is righteous, those who are His must practice righteousness.
The world is full of iniquity because Satan is the father of iniquity. Lawlessness is rampant in the whole world. Wickedness fills the world. But all those who are His, if you really name the name of the Lord, depart from iniquity.
You cannot and should not remain in iniquity. If you depart from iniquity, is that strange? If this word were spoken to the world, it would be reasonable. But this word is spoken to those who name the name of the Lord.
We who name the name of the Lord should already have departed from iniquity, because the Lord has delivered us out of iniquity. He has forgiven all our sins and our iniquities. How should we go back into iniquity?
But unfortunately, this is what happens to God’s people, even to those who name the name of the Lord. If you do not depart from iniquity, the Lord says, “I do not know you, you workers of wickedness.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, there is a way for us to know whether we are really His, whether we have the seal upon us, whether we are really built on that firm foundation of God.
Now the Apostle Paul tries to apply this principle. He says, “In a great house.”
Brothers and sisters, we have already seen in 1 Timothy Chapter 3 that the church is God’s house. God dwells there.
In comparison with the world, the Bible calls the church a little flock. In Luke 12:32, our Lord says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
So, in comparison with the world, the church is a little flock. But now the church has become a great house.
People may think that now the church has grown. Formerly the church was persecuted; now the church is welcomed by the world. But the church has lost its purity because the world has entered into the church.
It is like a ship above the water. The ship should float on the water, but now the water has filled the ship. That is what the church is today.
When the church has become a great house, you find that in the church there are two different kinds of vessels. If the church is God’s house, there should be only one kind of vessel. But now, in the great house, there are two kinds.
You have gold and silver vessels, and you have wooden and earthen vessels. You have vessels unto honor, and vessels unto dishonor.
You know, we are all vessels. A vessel is not an end in itself; a vessel is a means to an end. We human beings are not the end. We are vessels, means to an end. We are created for God. We are created to serve His purpose.
As vessels, what should fill us? We should be gold and silver vessels, because gold and silver vessels are filled with gold and silver.
In Scripture, gold always represents the glory and nature of God. It represents the life of God. God’s life is incorruptible. God’s life is invaluable. God’s life never changes.
Silver in Scripture always represents redemption, the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus. What He has accomplished on the cross is eternal.
So, brothers and sisters, we are supposed to be gold and silver vessels. It is His life and the finished work of Christ that fill us.
And what you are filled with, that is what you pour out. That will be our service. Some vessels are gold and silver vessels; that is to say, they are vessels that honor the Lord. However they live and whatever they serve, they honor the Lord.
But wooden and earthen vessels represent man himself. In Scripture, wood represents man, and wood is corruptible. Earth represents man because our bodies are made of earth.
In other words, we who should be filled with the life of Christ and serve with His life, instead remain according to our flesh, according to the old Adam. We are still earthly. We are not heavenly. We are not spiritual.
And if this is what we are, our service is no different. What we pour out is wood and earth. Our service is full of man himself, and it is earthly, like the ways of the world. These are vessels unto dishonor because they dishonor the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, to be a vessel unto honor or a vessel unto dishonor does not mean that you are honorable in yourself. It is because you honor the Lord, because everything comes from Him and everything goes back to Him.
Now you find that in the great house, in the church, there are two different kinds of vessels. Gold and silver vessels are very rare because they are costly. But wooden and earthen vessels are everywhere. You do not need to pay any cost; just be yourself. Whatever you want, you do it.
If things continue in this way, when the Lord returns, then you will see the difference.
So, dear brothers and sisters, what should we do? We are not stronger than anybody else. We are no better than anybody else. How can we stand firm and follow the Lord?
Do we simply say, “Well, if everybody is like that, why should I be different? If everybody has an easy way, why should I have such a hard way? Why not just go with the crowd?”
Brothers and sisters, are you doing that? Are you being tempted to do that? No. The Lord says that you should be gold and silver vessels, because that is what the Lord desires.
If you really love the Lord, in spite of all that surrounds you being wooden and earthen vessels, you have to be a gold and silver vessel. You do not live for yourself; you live for Him, who loves us and gave Himself for us. How can you not live for Him?
So here is the word of the Lord to you:
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the Master’s use, prepared unto every good work.
—2 Timothy 2:21
There is no need for anyone who names the name of the Lord to remain an earthen and wooden vessel. Earthen and wooden vessels can become gold and silver vessels. By the grace of God, those who are vessels unto dishonor can become vessels unto honor.
It is very simple: if anyone purges himself from these—that is, from being an earthen and wooden vessel—he shall become a gold and silver vessel.
The word purge in Greek is used only twice in the New Testament. One is here: “purge himself.” The other is in 1 Corinthians Chapter 5.
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul says, “Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.” The church should be unleavened bread. But leaven had come in, and the whole church was affected.
At that time, you remember, a brother had married his father’s wife. Such a thing even the world did not tolerate. But the church had such a case, and the whole church did not repent. They thought, “We are so liberal; we can accommodate anything.”
So the judgment of God came. Paul said, “Purge out the old leaven. Drive him out. If he does not repent, drive him out, because the church is unleavened bread.”
Now that is in 1 Corinthians 5. Here, the word is used again, but it is not against others; it is against yourself. Purify yourself.
You need to purge yourself. You will not remain in your flesh. You cannot follow the way of the world. If you have been doing that, now purge yourself. Purify yourself.
Oh, brothers and sisters, how unfortunate, how sorrowful, that many brothers and sisters are content to remain earthen and wooden vessels.
May the grace of God and the love of God constrain us. It is true that we cannot purify ourselves. God is able to do it. The Holy Spirit is ready to do it. But He needs your cooperation.
Are you willing? Are you desiring it? Are you willing to be purified? Or are you content to remain an earthen and wooden vessel?
You dishonor the Lord today, and one day the Lord may say, “I do not know you. I do not approve of you.” You are cast into outer darkness because you have no use.
May the love of Christ constrain us and create within us a desire not to be content with being earthen and wooden vessels.
Let us not dishonor the Lord with our lives. Weak as we are, we want to honor Him. Brothers and sisters, the Spirit of God will give you the power to cast out that which is not of God, to purge it out from your life, and to cast it out from your work. He will purify you.
He will sanctify you, make you a suitable vessel, serviceable to the Master, and prepared for every good work—that is, to do the will of God. Oh, praise the Lord. That is what He will do.
Dear brothers and sisters, I beg of you: do not be content to be earthen and wooden vessels in the great house. By the grace of God, purify yourself, and the Lord will make you a vessel unto honor.
Now let us become practical. Verse 22 says:
But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
—2 Timothy 2:22
Here you find two things: one is negative, and one is positive. Negatively, flee. Positively, pursue. We have two things to do.
We have to flee youthful lusts. You may say that this speaks to young people, and you may say, “I am already sixty years old or seventy years old.” But, brothers and sisters, sometimes the elderly have more youthful lusts than young people.
Now, what is youthful lust? Read 1 John Chapter 2, Verses 12 through 17, and you find what youthful lust is. Youthful lust is the love of the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Young people love that. Young people may say, “You older people have seen the world; you have tasted everything. We have to try it for ourselves. You tell us not to love the world because you have tasted the bitterness of the world. We have not even tasted the sweetness of it.”
Ah, brothers and sisters, many white-haired people love the world more than young people. There is more of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Flee. We all need to flee from it.
Why do you flee? If there is an earthquake, you flee for your life. If you love those youthful lusts, you will die. Flee from them.
Ah, brothers and sisters, we need to flee. Run, run, run. Do not linger. Do not look back. Remember Lot’s wife.
But fleeing is something negative. We also have to pursue. It is a strong word.
You know, Christian life is not a leisurely walk. Christian life is not resting on the sofa and letting people carry you to heaven. Christian life is strenuous. We have to apply ourselves. We have to be diligent.
Now, what are we pursuing? We pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. These are the characteristics of Christ.
We pursue righteousness because our Lord is righteous; therefore, we must be righteous. Our Lord is faithful, and we must pursue faith—believing and trusting in God. He is love, and we need to pursue love. We need to pursue peace with one another.
We need to pursue the character of Christ. You cannot do it all alone. We need one another.
We are to pursue these things with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. Thank God, in the church there are a few gold and silver vessels. Pursue with them, and build up the character of Christ in your life.
So do not give up. Do not go away. Stand for the Lord. Pursue with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. This is the way for us today.
Dear Lord, our hearts bow before Thee.
Thou hast provided a way for those who want to follow Thee. We pray that Thou wilt encourage them. Have mercy upon all of us.
May none of us remain as earthen and wooden vessels. May we all, by Thy grace, purify ourselves while there is still time, that we may also be acceptable and approved by Thee.
And to Thee be the glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.