Believers: Vessels for Honorable Use

Transcript

GR 1390
12/14/2008
Believers: Vessels for Honorable Use
2 Timothy 2:20-22
Gil Rugh


We've been studying 2 Timothy together on Sunday mornings and I want to invite you to go to 2 Timothy in your Bibles. We're going to continue that section today. We're talking about the church of Jesus Christ. It's a unique entity in the world today, there is nothing like the church. There is no organization, there is no group that is comparable to the church of Jesus Christ. It is unique. It is comprised of all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. That's why we celebrate His birth, that's why we celebrate His death and resurrection. He's the Son of God, He came to be the Savior. By His death and resurrection He provided salvation. All who believe in Him are cleansed, forgiven and made new. During this period of time all of those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, and placed into what the scripture calls the body of Christ, which is the church.

1 Corinthians 12:13 says: “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” That includes Jews and Gentiles alike, any and all who place their faith in Jesus Christ are baptized, they are identified with Christ spiritually, by the Holy Spirit in His death, burial and resurrection they become part of the church. The church of Jesus Christ is universal in the sense it encompasses all believers anywhere in the world. We call that the universal church. But the manifestation of the church in the world is the local church, the hundreds, thousands, millions of local churches in the world are the manifestation of the body of Christ in the world.

God has brought us together in this spiritual entity that has physical visibility so that we might grow together, mature together, represent Him, and be a center where His truth is proclaimed. We are nurtured on that truth. 1 Peter 2:2 says: “Like newborn babies [we are to] long for the pure milk of [God's] the word, so that by it we may grow in respect to [our] salvation.” So we gather together, we are nurtured in the Word, we are gifted by the Spirit of God, each one individually, to contribute to the functioning of the body together, the local church.

Now what happens is that over time, some profess to believe in Jesus Christ who have never truly trusted Him and experienced His life-changing salvation. When they become part of a local church they can become a corrupting influence, both doctrinally and behaviorally. Or for a time they look like they are true believers, they act like they are true believers, and they become accepted as true believers in the church. They may even begin to occupy important positions like teaching the Word of God. But over time a drift takes place, and they move away from the firm foundation of God's truth and the teaching of God's truth in its purity. Over time conduct and behavior may become corrupted. The danger is this false teaching and corrupted behavior begins to affect others in the church and change its character of being a people holy and separated unto God, a people committed to the purity of God's Word and the proclaiming of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amazing as this is, this is what is happening in the church at Ephesus, a church in which Paul had spent much time ministering. He had left his associate, Timothy, in the church at Ephesus to deal with problems in the church, to put a stop to the teaching that was going on there by certain false teachers who were corrupting the Word of God.

So that's where we are in 2 Timothy. How do you deal with this issue of unbelievers who have become mixed in a local church, who have a following, who have influence, but their teaching is no longer biblical as it needs to be, or their conduct is no longer biblical as it must be? Paul began to deal with this matter in 2 Timothy 2:14 and he gave three commands. First, Timothy was to remind them of the truths that he had taught in the letter up to this point, and to caution them that they are not to get involved in worthless discussions and arguments with false teachers. He commanded him to be diligent along with other believers, to be careful that they are handling the Word of God accurately, correctly. True believers have the Spirit of God and as they are correctly taught the Word of God, they have the ability to know and understand truth. Unbelievers are not able to sort those things out, the details that they must. Then in verse 16 he commanded him to “avoid worldly and empty chatter,” have fruitless conversations about things that will do no positive good. Stay with the Word of God. Verses 16-17 elaborated on that, worthless talk only leads to further ungodliness and it spreads. We looked into how that works. He gave two examples, Hymenaeus and Philetus, men who denied there would be a bodily resurrection for believers. This was going on in the church, the church where Paul had ministered for years, where Timothy had been ministering for years. And there are teachers there saying there is no bodily resurrection. It has to be dealt with.

Then in verse 19 he gave a word of encouragement. Even though there are false teachers who infiltrate the church, even though they attempt to corrupt the truth of God, even though their conduct may be corrupt, you understand the firm foundation of the church stands. God is the One who has placed His seal, His seal is that He knew those who belonged to Him. It is part of His sovereign work of choice, bringing salvation to the elect. So in verse 19 we read, “The firm foundation of God stands, having this seal,” the firm foundation is the true church. Two-part seal. “The Lord knows those who are His,” or past tense, “knew those who were His.” He is not confused over who is genuine and who is not. Secondly, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.” That “is to abstain” is an aorist imperative command, sharp command. “Everyone who names the name of the Lord must abstain from wickedness.” So you have the security and the purity of the church by this seal. There is no question the Lord is clear. Sometimes it's confusing, are they a believer or aren't they? How confused can a genuine believer be? God is never confused. The evidence of belonging to Him, true believers must abstain from all wickedness, all corruption, all ungodly character.

Now what he is going to do is move on in verse 20. He's going to use the picture of a house flows out of verse 19, but it's going to be a different picture. Verse 19, the church was pictured as the firm foundation, made up of true believers and those who will abstain from wickedness being evidence that they truly are those that the Lord has known for Himself. Now he is going to use the picture of a large house. A wealthy house in those days, a large house, so that it would have very valuable vessels in it and vessels of little value. And the picture in verse 20, “Now in a large house there are not only silver and gold vessels, but vessels of wood and earthenware, some to honor and some to dishonor.” The picture of a large house. While there is similarity to verse 19, don't try to put the two together. This is not a house built on the foundation of verse 19. Different metaphor, different picture. In verse 19 the church was the foundation, now in verse 20 the church is pictured as a house. And in this house there are vessels, utensils. Utensils represent believers and unbelievers. We read: “A large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but vessels of wood and earthenware.” Two kinds of vessels, those that are valuable and those that are not valuable. The gold and silver vessels are the valuable ones, the wood and clay vessels are the ones not valuable, from God's perspective, representing true believers and non-believers. But you'll note, they are all in this large house, this great house, referring to the church in a broad sense, everybody who is claiming to be part of it, the church at Ephesus, as he is reminding Timothy. But you understand there are two kinds of vessels in the church at Ephesus, Timothy. There are vessels of gold and silver, and there are vessels of clay and wood.

And furthermore, as regards use, the gold and silver vessels are for honorable use; the clay and wood vessels are for dishonorable use. Again distinguishing between the actions of a true believer and a non-believer. So the picture is relatively clear. The valuable vessels are put to honorable use, not valuable vessels put to dishonorable use. In our kitchen, probably like yours, we have a plastic container and you put the trash into it. It is cheap, it is plastic, periodically cracks, we throw it away and get another one. It is a vessel of little value, it is used for dishonorable purposes. All the trash gets thrown in there. And when it gets cracked you throw it away. In those days if the clay vessels got dropped they broke, you threw it away. You don't throw away gold vessels, they have value. So you can see the distinction. What he is doing here is picturing now the church as a large facility that has two kinds of vessels in it—the valuable one, gold and silver; the not valuable, clay and wood – and the distinction and purpose. So there are two lines here, both the value of the vessel and the use of the vessel that is unfolded here.

Paul used this same picture for a little different purpose. Come back to Romans 9, and we're not going to get sidetracked in the details of Romans 9, but Paul is talking about vessels for honor and vessels for dishonor. He's making a different point there than we have in 2 Timothy, but the same kind of picture. He is dealing with the sovereignty of God over His creation in Romans 9. We'll pick up with verse 21. God is the potter in this picture here. “Does not the potter have right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel [there is our word we have “vessel” – same word we are dealing with in 2 Timothy] for honorable use [there is our word honorable] and another for common use” [and there is our word “dishonorable”]. They've translated it “common” here, but it's the word “honorable” made negative. So you see, we're talking about a vessel for honorable use, referring to a human being, to bring honor to God and accomplish His purposes, and another for dishonor. An unbeliever or ungodly things would be the result of his life, things that are not pleasing to God. So this picture could be used, illustrating a different point, but the same picture. We are a vessel, each one of us individually, either of gold and silver, or of clay and wood. And each of us either for honorable use or for dishonorable use. That's true of the church at Ephesus. That's true of our local church and other local churches as well.

Come back to 2 Timothy. Verse 21 says, “Therefore.” Now what he is going to do is apply the picture that he developed in verse 20. This great house is a vessel and the purpose of each of the vessels. “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful to the master, prepared for every good work.” Let's talk about the vessels here, their purpose. “If anyone cleanses himself from these.” That word “to cleanse” we get the English word “catharsis” from this and it's intensified. In other words, it's that basic Greek word with a preposition on the front that intensifies it. In other words, cleanses thoroughly, cleanses completely is the idea. “Cleanses himself from these.” What does “these” refer to, or “these things” as we have it in our translation? Well, I take it that he's talking about what the context is—the false teachers, their teaching and their behavior. You have to cleanse yourself from these, these false doctrines that Hymenaeus, Philetus and men like them promote; this ungodly behavior, wickedness. Remember the end of verse 19 really was being developed through the rest of the chapter here. “Everyone who names the name of the Lord must abstain from wickedness.” That's the seal of God on those who belong to Him. It is an absolute requirement that is carried out as a result of His work of salvation in the life of a person who is truly saved. The seal of God settles this is true. It's going to be just as true as God knew those who belong to Him. The other part of that seal, single seal, remember, is our behavior.

There is constant confusion on this and sadly most religious people in the world are confused on this, most Protestants and Catholics. They begin to think, “Therefore if I do good works I will become pleasing to God.” That is never the teaching of scripture. First you must become a child of God and as a result of being born into God's family, now you will do the works of God. You can never do good works to become a child of God. The good works are always a result of being a child of God. And that's what is in the context here. Anyone who cleanses himself from these will be a vessel for honor. Not telling him how to get saved, telling what true believers do. They disassociate themselves, they don't become involved in false teaching and in godless living, otherwise the seal of God would fail, as we saw in verse 19. True believers will live godly lives. It doesn't mean we are perfect. The question always comes, “Well then, where is the line drawn?” We can't always draw it, remember the Lord knows those who are His. But the manifestation will be in our practice, in our conduct. He's going to elaborate this with three commands a little bit later down in verses 22-23.

Turn back to 2 John, see what is going on here. We talk about if you cleanse yourself from these—the teachers, the teachings, the corrupt behavior. 2 John 10: “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, [the correct teaching concerning Christ, concerning His work and so on as he has been talking about], do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates [fellowships] in his evil deeds.” You see, true believers are to disassociate themselves. They must, by virtue of who they are now in Christ, abstain from all sorts of wickedness, corruption, doctrinal error.

Come back to 2 Timothy. “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these,” and there is the responsibility that flows out of who I am as a result of the work of Christ in my life. I now see and understand things I didn't before. The Word of God is an open book to me, the Spirit of God teaches me, teaches me through other teachers who are faithful to the Word. The character of Christ is now being produced in me and I follow through with obedience in that. So if anyone cleanses himself from these he will be a vessel for honor. That's the manifestation of those that the Lord knew, and thus must abstain from wickedness because of the work that He has done in their lives.

He's going to develop it further with three expressions, three phrases that will further clarify it. “A vessel for honor,” then, is the one cleansed and separated from the defiling things, the corrupting things that manifests what kind of vessel you are. Valuable vessels are for honorable purposes, the not valuable vessels are for dishonorable uses. Those doing dishonorable things reveal what kind of vessel they are, the manifestation in that kind of life.

“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor.” He's going to say three things about being a vessel for honor. There are three characteristics. First, “sanctified,” perfect passive participle. Don't you just love grammar? I never did when I was in school. I'm taking English classes, why am I studying English? I know how to talk. I don't care if it's a participle, I don't care if it's a verb, I don't care if it's a subject. I can talk. I remember telling my English teacher ... He says, I think you ought to do better in this class. It's not very interesting, I know how to talk. You know I had to get a little older, a little more mature so I knew how dumb I was. This is a perfect passive participle, I know it excites you. Perfect tense, something happens in the past and the results continue in the present. Passive voice, something happens to the person or thing. So here we are, those who have been sanctified, or having been sanctified. This “vessel for honor, [having been] sanctified” indicates that God has set this person apart for Himself, we are manifesting the salvation work of God. When God saves a person to faith in Christ He justifies him, declares him righteous as He forgives his sins. He sanctifies him, sets him apart from sin for Himself.

Back up to 2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation [God's sovereign electing work. He knew, past tense. God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. How did this work out? Well you have God's electing work, it is carried out] through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” So you see the three parts there—God's election from the beginning; the work of the Spirit in sanctification, setting us apart; and our faith in the truth. Together that brings about our salvation. Now “sanctification” here, it's the same basic word as we translate “holy” and we translate “saint.” Different forms of the word, but the same basic word. It means “to be set apart.” A saint is someone set apart for God, someone holy is set apart from sin to God. God is completely holy because He is completely set apart from sin. To be sanctified is to be set apart. So you see here that happens as part of our salvation package.

So really when (you come back to 2 Timothy 2:21) someone cleanses himself from these defilements, he'll be a vessel of honor, having been sanctified. We are really manifesting in our practice the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God in our lives. We have that progressive ongoing sanctification as we are more and more being conformed to the character of Christ in preparation for the glorification of the body. It is a perfect tense, it is a settled, permanent condition. It happened to us in the past and it continues and will continue. The process in the manifestation of our life is ongoing.

Second characteristic of those being a vessel for honor—they are “useful to the Master.” What a statement. We have a picture of the great house here, there is a master of the house, the despotes. We get the English word “despot.” What is a despot? It is an absolute ruler. The word is used, we won't take the time to look, but in the context of slave/master. In 1 Timothy 6:1-2 Paul talks about masters and slaves and he used this word “despot.” Not the only word, it can be kurios, “the lord,” but here the word “despot, the master, the sovereign” of the house. What is a vessel for? To be useful to the one who rules the house. Who is the head of the church? The ruler of the church, Christ. Otherwise how would we be useful to Him? That's a vessel of honor. A vessel of honor is one who is useful to God for the accomplishing of His purposes, the doing of that which brings honor and glory to Him.

Now it's true we could go to Romans 9 and see even the vessels for dishonor will ultimately be used for God's purposes, but that's not Paul's purpose in developing it here. He's developing the contrast and difference between the life, if you will, of a believer and an unbeliever. The life of a believer is for the glory of God, to be useful in the accomplishing of His purposes. This is our goal as Christ talked about in Matthew 25, “Well done, good and faithful slave.” We desire to be useful to Him, to be pleasing to Him, to be an instrument that He uses for the accomplishing of His work in these days.

Thirdly, “Prepared for every good work.” This word “prepared,” another perfect passive participle like sanctified was. One who has been prepared by God for every good work. You see the mixture here. In our carrying out our responsibility and activity we are demonstrating and manifesting the work of God in our lives, in contrast to the unbeliever who is living in rebellion against God. These false teachers, whether they are sincere or not is irrelevant. They don't understand the truth. They are denying the resurrection which is a denial ultimately of the saving work of Christ. Don't talk about whether they are sincere or not. Paul bore testimony for the Jews. “I bear testimony they have a zeal for God” but it's in ignorance (Romans 10:2). Ignorant zeal doesn't count. So here, “Prepared for every good work,” that's what God prepared us for, it's part of our salvation package. Isn't it wonderful, God just didn't save us as a fire escape from hell, now whatever happens, happens. God saved us to deliver us from condemnation which includes an eternal hell, but He saved us now to live for Him. And part of that salvation work is He has prepared us for every good work.

Back up to Ephesians 2. Keep in mind this word “prepared.” The letter to the Ephesians that Paul had written this letter to, the church where Timothy is now sometime earlier, the letter to the church at Ephesus. Timothy, when Paul writes the letters to Timothy, is at Ephesus dealing with problems in the church. Ephesians 2:8. The chapter started out, verse 1, talking about we were dead in our trespasses and sins, we walked according to the course of the world, and so on. We were hopeless and hopelessly lost, but verse 4: “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” not by our works, by grace.

Come down to verse 8: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” That's why any teaching that in any way adds any works to the bringing about of the salvation for the soul is corrupting the truth of God is an enemy of God. Some would say, well, salvation is by grace through faith. But do you believe it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone? That's the dividing line. Well, I'm trusting Christ for my salvation and I also believe I have to partake of the sacraments as a means of grace to truly be saved. I'm sorry, you are not saved, you are a false teacher, an enemy of God. You cannot mix man's works with God's grace, otherwise grace is no longer grace. Paul developed that in Romans. You put a little bit of works with grace, you no longer have grace. So you are not saved by your works, you are saved by grace.

And then you note what happens. Verse 10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” The good works are a result of God making us new in Christ. Just like your children, they didn't earn their way to being born into your family, they didn't work their way to do it, they didn't really have anything much to do with it, period. But now that they've been born into your family there are expectations and requirements. It's a result, not a cause. Some would say, “My dad doesn't allow me to do this, my dad says I have to do this.” You say, “That's how you got to be your dad's child.” “No, I was born into my dad's family. But because I am his child I do these things.” That's the picture.

Now we're here for the last statement, we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works, [note this] which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God prepared, there is our word. In 2 Timothy we are “prepared for every good work.” Same word we have here. These good works God prepared, that's a preposition before, on the front, and we translate it “beforehand.” The same basic word prepared, prepared beforehand. You see part of the salvation package God ordained, that those who belong to Him must abstain from wickedness, must live their lives for Him and His glory, must manifest His character in the midst of a corrupt world. These are things that God prepared beforehand. That goes back, it's part of the salvation package. It's not an add-on, it's not a decision you make later in your life to make Christ Lord. He is the despot of the house, the sovereign ruler. We are His slaves and God has prepared beforehand, when He ordained our salvation He ordained the results of that salvation, part of which is godly living, good works.

So you come back to 2 Timothy. We are God's workmanship and so we are vessels “prepared for every good work.” That's what it means to be a vessel for honor, for honorable use. Those who are sanctified, those who are “useful to the Master,” those who have been prepared. Like these precious vessels of gold and silver, they are prepared for honorable use, not to carry out the trash and the dung, they have honorable use, not for ultimate destruction. They are prepared for good works.

Now he is going to apply to Timothy what he has said in this picture by giving three commands. Remember this particular section began with three commands up in verses 14-16: “Remind them,” verse 14; “Be diligent,” verse 15; “Avoid,” verse 16. Now in verses 22-23 he is going to give three more commands to Timothy. There was a command given in verse 19, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain [must abstain] from wickedness.” But that's a descriptive command of what is required of all believers. Here these three commands “to begin,” and these three commands “now,” are directed specifically to Timothy, and of course, through Timothy to other believers.

As such a vessel here is what we must do, as one who cleanses himself. “Now flee from youthful lusts.” Pheugo, we get the word fugitive from this word. A fugitive is what? One who flees from something. He is to avoid, to shun, to flee. Present imperative. It is a command and it is to be the characteristic of Timothy's life. There are some things he must always avoid, always stay away from, always run away from, if you will. You flee youthful lusts. In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul tells Timothy, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness.” That was a word used of a person up to about the age of 40 in New Testament times. So, if you are under 40 you were a youth, over 40 you don't qualify. “Youthful lusts.” Now it is interesting, he doesn't specify what they are, it just says “youthful lusts.” Whatever would characterize younger people who are in the full, the vigor of life, but also maybe have some tendencies or traps that they could be drawn into. We think of the word “lust” as just for sexual things, and it would include that, but the word means “desires,” and all kinds of bad desires.

Come back to 1 Timothy 6. Paul gave the same instructions here to Timothy. Verse 11: “But flee these things, you man of God.” It's the same thing. What are these things? Well, in the context he talks about the pursuit of money, verses 9-10, those who want to get rich fall into temptation. Often young people want to get rich, they want to be successful, they want to make money. That would be a youthful lust. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and it caused some to wander away from the faith and bring themselves grief. We're getting some exposure to that in our day.

Earlier, in 1 Timothy 6:3, he warned him about different doctrines and those who wouldn't hold a true doctrine. He warned him, verse 4, about morbid interest in controversial questions, disputes about words that cause envy, strife, abusive things. Anybody could be susceptible to this, but there is something about being younger. You can be more rash, more self-confident, act without thinking sometimes, as much as you should. The older you get, your danger becomes the opposite. At my age you have to be careful you act soon enough, you are reluctant to get into something. I remember reading a businessman's statement, “If most of your board is over 50 your organization is in trouble. Why would they say that? Now I can understand it. Before, when I was younger I'd think, “let's do it, let's build that building, let's put that ..., let's buy that ..., let's.” Well, what if...? We don't worry about that. Now, at my age I think, why would we want to do that? Let's think about it. After a nap we'll talk about it. So they are youthful lusts, you have to avoid them because trouble. Some young people by their brashness charge ahead, not that older people can't, but there are certain things characteristic of youth. And Timothy is a younger man, probably his upper 30s by this time, as we have talked about. Paul wants him to be careful.

Come back to 2 Timothy, “Flee youthful lusts.” It's not enough to stay away from some things, you have to know what you ought to be going after. You run away from some things, you run after other things. It's not just we avoid things. Christians are those who have no fun, no enjoyment because they don't do anything. It's not just that we avoid certain things, there are things we are pursuing after. This is a word that's used of the zeal of Christians in pursuing things God has set before them, the things pleasing to God. It's a command here that is another present imperative, the word here is something that is to continue to characterize us. We ought to be always after these things, having them become more and more characteristic of our lives, building them into our lives. This word “pursue” means to do something with determination, with persistence, something you give your total energy to. You are pursuing.

And he has several things here. First is “righteousness.” Righteousness is conduct that is right before God, it would characterize a vessel unto honor, a vessel abstaining from wickedness, manifesting godly character. Pursuit of righteousness, the things that are right in the sight of God, the things that are pleasing to God, honoring to God, consistent with His character.

Go back to 1 John 3:7, “Little children, make sure no one deceives you.” Here we go again, a concern within the fellowship of believers that deception will take place. “The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil.” So here you see something consistent with the character of God. Look at verse 9, “No one who is born of God practices sin, [Why?] Because His seed [God's seed] abides in him; and he cannot [practice] sin, because he is born of God.” It's like you can't swing from the top of trees by your tail. Why? You weren't born a monkey. We are born now God's children, we've partaken of His character. Peter says we have become partakers of the divine nature, not that we've become divine, but the very character of God now is produced in us, His seed which produces. Just like in the human analogy that it's building on. A baby born takes on the characteristics of the parents, I see it looks just like his father. I grew a beard. I can't tell you the number of people who said, “You look like your dad.” I couldn't tell whether it was a compliment or a rebuke. Dad's in glory, so we can't argue it. I look in the mirror now and say, “Oh my.” “What?” “You see, it's there.” It's what we are saying here. You know what? The devil's children manifest his character. He was a liar from the beginning, he is a deceiver, he is a slanderer, he's godless in every way, he opposes the truth. There is no truth in him, the Bible tells us. But the children of God? You see that's why you first have to be born in God's family, be changed within, be made a new man, as we saw in Romans 6. And now you practice righteousness and manifest you belong to God.

Verse 10, “By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” And so on it goes. Philippians 1:11 says, concerning believers, we are the ones “having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ.” That's what we're talking about. Now I understand unbelievers, good counterfeits, but they are not genuine, and over time it becomes clear.

Come back to 2 Timothy. We are pursuing righteousness, more of God's character, more clearly manifest in my life. We're pursuing faith, and this refers to trusting God in all areas of our lives. Our confidence is in Him, in His truth, in His Word. We believe in Him, we've built our lives upon it. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5:7 and said, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” I've never seen heaven, I've never seen hell, I've never seen a glorified body, I've never seen God, I've never seen Christ, I've never seen the Spirit of God, I've never seen an angel. I walk by faith. I've never seen salvation. I've seen the results of salvation displayed in behavior, for example, but I can't see a heart, I can't see in the innermost being of a person. I take it by faith and we pursue that. And what happens? In life as we grow, we are never done. How often have you said as a believer who has walked with the Lord for some time, that you are learning to trust the Lord in ways that you hadn't before because every trial, every difficulty, every circumstance that comes into our lives challenges us. And sometimes these things come and the first thing is we feel like we're shaken and unstable. What do we do? We turn to God, we come to His Word and we settle ourselves. I don't know why this has happened, but I know God has a purpose in it, I know His Word is true, it's for my good that He's doing it. And we pursue faith. Whatever comes in my life, I want to learn to trust God in it, I want to trust Him and grow in it. And that's what we're doing. We're pursuing faith and a life of faith.

We're pursuing love, the self-sacrificing love that does what is the best for others. You know we are never done. Isn't it sometimes discouraging how selfish we can be, how quickly we would turn our attention to ourselves and put ourselves first in what we like and what we want? We are to be pursuing love. It is the love which is the fruit of the Spirit, the love which is the character of our God.

We have to go back to 1 John 4:7, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” You know unbelievers read this and they are all confused. How many people say, “God is love”? We have to have love, that's the most important thing. They don't have any idea what the Bible is talking about when it talks about love here. “The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (v. 8). So you see, when we are pursuing love, we are pursuing that which is consistent and comes out of the very being of God. Now we are partakers of the divine nature, it is a fruit being produced in us by the Spirit as we submit to Him. “By this the love of God was manifested to us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the satisfaction to pay the penalty] for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (vv. 13, 14).

Down in the middle of verse 16 (of 1 John), “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” So you see it's coming out of the character of God and what He is producing and doing in our lives. Never done, never done, and needed in the church at Ephesus. We're not done, some of you have wondered where we are going and how we deal with those in the church that are in error. He's going to get to this at the end of this chapter, we won't get there in our study today. That's going to come. But love is to characterize us in our relationship as believers, and even in our attitude to the world. While the world is our enemy, it is the enemy of our God, we also want to display the love of God to the world because God's love was demonstrated to us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). So we bring to them the message of life that others brought to us when we were dead in our trespasses and sins.

Come back to 2 Timothy 2. We are also pursuing peace. Tranquility, harmony, stability, peace that enables us as believers to live at peace with one another. Paul talked about it in Romans 14:19. Look at the diversity, look at the different people. But it's the work of God and we constantly want to pursue that. You know it's not love and peace at the expense of truth. We'll talk about dealing with that. We must disassociate ourselves with false teaching, but we are bound together as believers in a relationship of love and peace together. We want to pursue peace. Our goal is not to tear the body apart, create division. True believers will be bound together in truth and godliness. That's why Paul told the Corinthians there must be divisions among you, so that those who are approved, who pass the test, may become manifest and evident. That's going on in Ephesus. We'll have more to say about that in our next study.

You do this “With [the end of verse 22] those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart.” In other words, what he is saying here in this great house, the valuable vessels, the true believers that are for honorable use, will join together in avoiding and fleeing the same things and pursuing after the same things. So, Timothy, you are commanded to constantly be fleeing from youthful lusts and pursuing righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord. We're talking about genuine believers, they call on the Lord from a pure heart. We're talking about genuine believers. “Whosoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved,” and that salvation brings the transformation to the inner person where we are made new. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, new things have come,” Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5. That's what we're talking about here. Timothy, is with all those who are genuinely saved. So even though it is discouraging dealing with the opposition within the church at Ephesus, you understand that true believers join together around the pure Word of God, and around godly conduct and character. That's a manifestation of who they are, that's a manifestation that they are those whom God knew, and thus have His seal that they must abstain from wickedness. It is built into them as partakers of the divine nature, they will manifest that, and that they are vessels for honor. So we ought not to be discouraged when we have to deal with issues within the church, because the devil will not stop. His work is no different today than it was 2000 years ago, as he attempts to create counterfeits and destroy the church from within as well as attack it from without. But every conflict, every false teacher and his teaching and his godless living, even Hymenaeus and Philetus, serve as an occasion for true believers to be bound together and manifest that they are genuine. And that makes more clear the vessels that do not belong to the Lord and are not for honorable use.

Serious matter. And you think, here we are, there's the church at Ephesus; here we are, our church today. This is the message of God to us. In this church, I take it, there would be both kinds of vessels. By God's grace I trust that most are genuine and I think that evidence is there. The reality of it is that there are some who profess to believe and come and sit. Over time it will become clear. One thing or another will begin to manifest itself and it will reveal our true character. I guess the question we ask, Paul told the Corinthians, “Examine yourselves to see if you be in the faith” (2 Corinthians 13:5). You know what the examination should reveal? The presence of the Spirit of God in you, producing the character of God, the fruit of the Spirit, the things we've talked about. Examine yourselves, are you a true believer? If you are a true believer the Spirit of God dwells in you, if the Spirit of God dwells in you He will be producing the character of God, and you will be fleeing certain things and pursuing the things consistent with the character of God.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace and the wonder of Your salvation, a salvation so complete that it has rescued us from the judgment of an eternal hell, and it has cleansed us to live lives of holiness, pleasing to You, useful to You, to accomplish the works that You would have us do. Lord, may we take these truths and commandments to heart, and we would be careful to examine ourselves to be sure indeed that we have genuinely placed our faith in the Savior who loved us and died for us. Thank You for Your work of grace in our church, the privilege we have to serve You in these days. We praise You, in Christ's name. Amen.