II Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
As we noted yesterday, God’s Word cannot be destroyed. The foundation of God stands sure. In the context, we are assured that God knows those who are saved. Once a person is saved they cannot lose their salvation. That is not a license to live in sin. It is a promise of God’s continued care for His own. No matter how difficult life becomes, nothing can separate the true child of God from the love of God.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We see also the command that those who are saved need to depart from iniquity. True Christians do not take pleasure in sin. They are also not trapped in sin. The power of God that saved them is the same power that is able to set them free from any sinful habit after salvation. It is important to build your life on the truth, not on the lies of man. New Evangelicalism has so many lies that are designed to destroy the truth. Many people are deceived into believing they are saved because they listen to the lies of New Evangelicalism. The devil is quite happy to see people assume they are saved, but actually not saved. Most people prove by their actions that they are people followers. Very few people settle on God’s Word as their only true authority. In chapter 4 Paul warned Timothy
II Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
We noted from yesterday’s devotional that the profane and vain babblers are doing quite well in our day. They sell many books and they gain quite a following. Most people allow these people to twist and distort God’s Word and they accept it that way. Amazing!
In verse 20, God directed Paul to use the illustration of a great house.
A nobleman or a king would have expensive vessels in his house and he would have lesser quality vessels. He might use the expensive vessels for special guests, but then he would us the lesser vessels for his servants.
It should not be surprising that in a true church there would be people who are genuinely saved and seeking to serve the Lord. There would also be those who are imposters and they are putting on a show but they lack the life of a saved person. The apostle Paul warned the elders in Ephesus that there would be those from among their own kind who would be wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
That is the reality. Wherever the Lord is at work, the devil is also seeking to destroy what God is doing. As we noted from verse 19, those who are saved will remain saved. They may be tempted to withdraw, but God will work to bring them back in line. God is good! He wants His children to know His blessings. His blessings are for those who know Him. False teachers will come around. False professors will come around. The pastor needs to be aware of this danger. He does not need to be paranoid. No saved person needs to be paranoid. We need to seek to encourage all those who profess to be saved to grow in the Lord. They will soon reveal whether they are truly saved or not. Those who are not saved will leave if they cannot accomplish their goal. Those who are saved will continue to grow and serve the Lord.
In verse 21 we see that there is a need for personal separation from sin. Paul has already mentioned some men who were teaching false doctrine. He warned the saints to stay away from such people. Timothy needed to stay away from such people and he needed to help others to do the same. The Christian life is not a passive life. It is not a come what may type of life. It is a war zone. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We do not need guns and knives. We need the Word of God. We humbly submit to God’s Word and we grow by faithfully studying and following God’s Word. We also need to separate from those who want to destroy our faith in God’s Word. We do that as individuals and the local church also sets a Biblical standard of what is allowed and what is not allowed. All need to come to hear the truth. However, if a person wants to promote their heresy, they need to be stopped.
We know that the Liberal party of Canada requires a certain standard of belief even to run in their party. That standard is a wicked standard, and yet most people accept the Liberal party’s right to have those standards. The Conservative party also has standards, but the media is not nearly as kind toward them as they are toward the Liberals. Neither party has Biblical standards, but we can see that in the secular world, the more ungodly a person is, the more they are accepted.
True churches are much more important than any political party. True churches are attacked by ungodly groups like the media or even police forces and medical officials these days. They do not want righteous people around. They want ungodly people who can be manipulated to follow ungodly dictates. False churches bow to the government. They even allow their buildings to be used for secular events.
Those who are saved, do not take their direction from the ungodly. They follow God’s righteous standard. They are not intimidated by ungodly people, no matter how loud they holler or how much force they try to use. Godly people trust in the true God and they set their sights on God’s truth and they build that into their lives.
Because true saints build upon truth, they can also be a blessing to others. They can be used of God to show others the way that brings peace and contentment. Even when facing prison or death as the apostle Paul was, he could still be an encouragement to Timothy and to others. There will be lost people who will finally come to the end of their false hopes and they will listen to God as He is drawing them to Himself. They will turn to God in repentance and be saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When they are finally to the end of themselves, nothing will stop them from turning to God. They will be like the woman that met Jesus and thought if she could but touch the hem of His garment she would be healed. She had already spent all her savings on physicians, and none could help her. She was desperate now and wanted help. She was healed because she turned to the Lord. That is a picture of the salvation that God offers to anyone who will turn to Him in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. When they get saved they will wonder why they fought so hard and waited so long to turn to God for salvation. Those who are saved are overwhelmed by the blessings that they may have heard of but never realized because they refused to trust in the Lord.
No one that is truly saved will ever complain that they were cheated out of something good. They will realize they have been given such a precious gift and they will then want others to know that gift as well.
Pastor Bartel
