Christmas – 1958
Love, Mom and Dad.
2 Tim 2.15
That scripture
verse became my "life's verse."
I want to share with you what has been a lifelong love affair between
that verse and my heart.
Godly excellence
is the right explaining of His Word. The handling is the picture of a father
dividing up the apple pie, so that each family member in the household gets an
equal share. (Believe me, that was a
closely watched event in the house in which I was raised!)
Excellence in the
handling of God's Word comes from a commitment to learning and rightly using
the Word. Vince Lombardi once said,
"The quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to
excellence, regardless of his chosen field or endeavor....I firmly believe that
any man's finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that
moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on
the field of battle, victorious."
Notice the excellent
vessels of which God approves...
Prepared Vessels
A prepared vessel
is one of which God approves, and may stand before Him in service,
unashamed. The word approved
is a term from the banking industry and means tested and found worthy. It’s like examining a $50 bill and finding it
genuine, not counterfeit. How do you get
there? How do you become God’s worthy workman?"
Note the
characteristics of a Prepared Vessel:
1. Preparation means knowledge
Our business is
to gain the kind of knowledge we need to be God's workers. That comes primarily from the Word of
God. In such a world as we live, a world
of darkness, only the light of the truth of God’s Word will do. You can never honor God as a prepared vessel
if you will not study the Word of God.
2. Preparation develops knack
Just as a
carpenter develops skill with his tools, a worthy workman in God's Word will
learn how to rightly handle it. So many people read God's Word with minds
already made up as to what it says. How
in the world can you learn anything if you won't allow God to speak to your
heart? It is God who must teach you the
"knack" of using His word properly.
3. Preparation begins on the knee
Submission to
God, His Word, and complete allegiance to Him as Lord, is not just bowing the
knee in prayer, it is bowing the life in surrender. A prepared vessel is a vessel surrendered
into the hands of the Great Potter!
Another kind of vessel
the Lord approves is....
Pure Vessels
Among the timeless
truths God’s Word teaches us, are some purity principles Paul
teaches:
1. The Mouth reflects the heart
Pure vessels
avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and
more ungodly. Their teaching will spread
like gangrene. Paul mentioned to Timothy
about Hymenaeus and Philetus, two men who wandered away from the truth of God’s
Word. They taught[2] that the
resurrection had already taken place, and they destroyed the faith of some of
the church.
Jesus laid down
the principle (Mark 15:19) that whatever comes out of the
mouth simply reveals what the heart is like.
Hymenaeus and Philetus taught an erroneous view of the
resurrection. Their view was that the
afterlife was a myth, and that you needed to get everything out of this present
life you could. To Paul these false chatterboxes were to the
church what gangrene is to a leg wound.
2. The Mouth can be cleansed if the heart is cleansed
God's solid
foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription:
The Lord knows those who are his; everyone who
confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. In a large house there are articles not only
of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and
some for ignoble. If a man cleanses
himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made
holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Timothy 2.19-21
There is a
reality about sin that is not debatable – you cannot cover it over; God must
remove it from you. If we ever attempt
to hide sin, cover it over with good works, God can still see. The heart can only be cleansed with
confession. That is what empties a
heart. But there is a caution in this
too…
3. Be careful not to stay empty
You do well to
confess sin and be done with it. But,
remember that in nature (which often parallels the spiritual realm) a vacuum is
abhorred. Empty space will be
filled.
In Matthew 12
there is recorded the Lord's parable about having a "house swept
clean." If it stays that way, it
will only be an invitation to trouble.
You see that in churches all the time.
People get saved, and store up an incredible amount of Bible knowledge,
yet act the part of the troublemaker – a child of Hell. Why?
Because it isn't enough to empty of sin in confession. Living the Spirit-filled life is a matter of
continually being filled with the Spirit.
Remember, no vacuums.
It is useless to
prepare the vessel in surrender to God and purify the vessel in confession of
sin if you won't allow the Spirit to fill you and make you a....
Powerful vessel
How does it
happen? How are you filled? How are you useful? Paul says, pursue righteousness, faith and
love. These are put forth as in
opposition to evil youthful desires.
I have been young
(it was a long time ago), and I know that all youthful
desires are not evil. But the most
prevalent ones are impatience, greed, anger, and lust. Paul is trying to tell us that the most powerful
forces for God are the opposites of those.
·
Righteousness shows itself in
kindness and gentleness.
·
Faith evidences itself
in patience and unselfishness.
·
Love is revealed when
one lays down his life for another.
How are you doing
with handling rightly the Word of Truth?
Two lions escaped
from the Washington Zoo. They knew they
couldn't stay together, so they agreed to separate and meet back in a month by
the Lincoln Memorial. They met. One lion was pathetically thin and
emaciated. The other was well-fed and
robust. The skinny one spoke, "I'm
going back to the zoo. It's impossible
out here. I hide in the park and hunt
for lunch scraps. At night I fight squirrels
for peanut shells. I can't make it. But look at you, all fat and sleek. Where did you hide?" Said the fat lion, "I'm hiding out at
the Whitehouse. Every other day I eat a
Cabinet Member. As long as I clean up
the mess, nobody seems to notice."
Cabinet members
that aren't missed in an administration are no different than Christians who
aren't missed in the Lord's service. To
be a useful vessel in God’s Kingdom requires preparation, purity depending on
the power supplied by Christ.
A few Questions
·
Have you trusted Christ for salvation, leaning on
His Word for direction?
·
Are you current in confession of sin to keep this
vessel, your life pure for Christ?
·
Have you asked and allowed God's Holy Spirit to
fill you for serving powerfully? Have
you?
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!
