2 Timothy 2:20
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. 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.
In God's great household, which is His church, there are both precious and unworthy people mingled together as wheat and tares in a field. The vessels of gold and silver for honor and of wood and earth for dishonor are those people themselves, differing in worth, character and use. A person becomes a vessel for honor by cleansing himself from what is base and from wrongdoing, becoming sanctified and fitted for his Master's use and ready for every good work. That cleansing comes through faith in Jesus that makes one new, turning from youthful cravings to follow righteousness, faith, love and peace, and through yielding as clay in the potter's hands to be shaped into Christ's likeness. God entrusts different sizes and measures of gifts and opportunities to each, and He uses both small and great vessels who humbly fill the place He appoints for them.
The Great House Described
The great house is the Lord's church, God's household, holding both precious and vile people together. As a field holds wheat and tares together and a fishing net gathers good and bad fish together, so the church holds those fit for honor and those fit for dishonor. The same distinction applies to the healing profession as a great house of doctors and nurses, which must be purified and shaped after the example of the Healer.
Within that house the vessels of gold and silver unto honor and of wood and earth unto dishonor are people of different worth, character and uses, some fit for honorable use and some for dishonorable use. The difference is fixed by the sure foundation that stands with this seal, that the Lord knows those who are His and that everyone who names the name of Christ must depart from iniquity. That word was instruction to Timothy, to be read and obeyed by a young man under reproof from faithful ministers.
The vessels also differ in size and capacity, picturing God's people with diverse gifts, capabilities and advantages lent by God to bring revenue to Him. God does not expect a small vessel to hold as much as a large one, nor a Christian with few advantages to exercise abilities developed by greater opportunities, but each is responsible to use faithfully what is entrusted in his own sphere. God alone judges capabilities and discerns time and talents employed for Him, so men must not decide who has done most good or treat workers accordingly. Those entrusted with few talents who are faithful receive just as large a reward as those entrusted with many, and humble work without show counts for more than bustle and parade that calls attention to self, interposes self between people and God, and proves a dead failure. God works through those willing to serve humbly in trust, including people with limited religious or intellectual training, who can do useful work to save souls and be a blessing.
Not every person or institution in the household is fit for service and honor. Leaders must be under God's control to be used for His glory, otherwise they come under the control of the powers of darkness. Some are unclean vessels appointed unto wrath who reject truth, follow their own way, are guided by their own spirit, work with God's enemy and shut Christ out of the heart, and therefore cannot serve as channels through which Christ works.
The church is not yet fully emptied of self and filled with God's love, but includes honorable members and unsanctified selves in its service. The Lord will reveal the difference, cleanse the chaff from the wheat, and make the church an honor to His name. A refining process will reveal who serves God and who does not, and vessels unto honor whose characters are transformed and who turn from sin will receive the latter rain.
Becoming Vessels of Honor
A person becomes a vessel unto honor by purging and cleansing himself from what is dishonorable and from iniquity, becoming sanctified and fit for the Master's use and prepared unto every good work, and this instruction is to be carried out in every conference. Material mingled with false or ungodly teaching can lead students away from truth, so teaching itself must be purged of corrupting influences. Everyone who names the name of Christ must use His offered gifts and depart from iniquity, and if cleansed becomes set apart and ready for every good work. Choosing that honor means developing a Christlike character marked by love, peace, unity, and freedom from quarrelsome hurtful speech, while cleansing from selfishness makes one fit where unclean selfishness dishonors and cannot be used.
Becoming such a vessel means rising from a low earthly state through faith in Jesus Christ, fleeing youthful lusts and following righteousness, faith, love and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. It requires being born again, for without new birth there is no entrance into the kingdom of God, letting transforming grace work upon the affections to sanctify the whole man. The foundation stands sure with the seal that the Lord knows those who are His, and the vessels unto dishonor are those not right before God because they do not cherish Christ's love and tender sympathies but are hard, denunciatory, overbearing critics without experimental true religion.
It means being cleansed from all moral defilement by living the truth, keeping God as the theme of thought and Jesus as the Pattern before the mind. It means living under personal accountability to a personal all-seeing God, fearing to offend Him and refusing to venture on the borders of evil. Safety is letting the Word speak, deeply searching the sure word of prophecy and making that Word the counselor, and turning away from human revealings and inexperienced human words that draw the mind from inspiration. It means not leaving the fountain of living waters to drink at broken cisterns, but practicing faithful self-examination by the Word and reliance on Christ's righteousness rather than one's own. The verse is given to be studied and practiced to sense sin's exceeding sinfulness, behold Jesus and be changed into His image, resist the devil and draw nigh to God, guard the soul's barriers every moment against debasing sins that wreck mind and character and eat away affection, turn from evildoers without self-righteousness over the overcome, and fully side with God to rescue souls and hide sins.
It requires submitting as clay in the hands of the potter to be molded, fashioned and polished into oneness with Christ and His divine similitude. God knows just what kind of vessel He wants and what place each man is best fitted for, and to every man He has given his work, and if He had His way hundreds would be worked and made into vessels as He sees best for His service. Those who devise for themselves what He has withheld face complaining, fretting and increased difficulties and spoil the web, while the submissive who cooperate in unity each in place as threads grow into a beautiful fabric rejoicing the universe. When so molded the person is pliable and follows where He leads, trusting God to work out His designs while cooperating in working out salvation with fear and trembling, qualified to stand in lot and place and by unselfish life to bear witness of Christ and give the world an illustration of practical Christianity leaving it without excuse. Repentance and returning to first works allow Christ to so mold and fashion the person for that purpose.
As with the potter who kneads and works the clay, tears it apart and presses it together, wets it and dries it, lets it lie untouched until perfectly pliable, forms it into shape, trims and polishes it on the wheel, dries it in the sun and bakes it in the oven, so God shapes providences and enlightens and trains every worker. As Master-worker and great Husbandman He purifies workers from all selfishness, trims down superfluous plans, cuts off branches entwining around undesirable objects, prunes for growth and abundant fruit-bearing, conforms servants day by day to Christ's image, and makes them partakers of the divine nature. This happens when self is crucified day by day, the human will is put aside for God's will, human judgment is not exalted as all-controlling, men get out of the Lord's way and make room for Him to plan and work, and by faith place themselves in His hands to be worked by the Holy Spirit. The human part is not to do the work of the Potter but to remain pliable and surrendered.
It requires the fullest possible surrender of self by everyone who accepts present truth, falling upon the Rock and being broken, having old habits and hereditary and cultivated traits broken up. It requires heeding the Comforter when He reproves of sin and of righteousness and of judgment, not resisting the Spirit, being willing to see errors and yield up self-will, and submitting so God may work to will and to do according to His good pleasure, rather than seeking to conform truth to personal peculiarities and imperfections. Becoming a vessel unto honor is a home experience gained by dying to self so Jesus shapes character, staying home to pray instead of telling neighbors home difficulties and seeking sympathy for manufactured grievances. It means surrendering the perverse will, being crucified to self while Christ lives within, then cherishing sincere and noble affections that fragrance character and appear in consistent words and actions, so religion manifested in the home spreads to church and neighborhood.
Being made a vessel of honor is a daily conversion to the Master's use for that one day. Each morning God takes every Christian and sets him apart as He wills to do His work for that day, as a vessel is taken and set apart to hold a particular article. Spending the abilities and capabilities of that day to God's glory makes a vessel of honor, without presuming that a lifetime or many years remain and earnestness can wait. Being converted every day keeps youth safe in the colleges of the land, while feeling at liberty to be off guard for one day leaves them overcome by Satan's snares and led into false forbidden paths.
Mere membership among God's people and knowledge of truth do not by themselves make a vessel of honor. The truth must be woven into daily life and character through a deep work of the heart, repentance from sin, abandonment of self, and emptying of self with its selfish desires, plans and worldly maxims. To be a vessel unto honor is to cooperate with Christ, believe the truth, live it and proclaim it in all its bearings, growing spiritually each day, practicing Christ's virtues, cleansing the heart of superiority, and planting living principles of truth in the soul. Those who keep selfish desires, selfish plans and worldly maxims woven with precious truth, and weave unsanctified principles learned from others into character, are not vessels unto honor and cannot be lights, lightbearers and laborers together with God; only those emptied of self can be.
God's precious truths are like beautiful fruit and should be presented through clean, pure, holy vessels so people can receive and enjoy them to God's glory. Christ gives heavenly wisdom to vessels for honor, molding them by the Holy Spirit and preparing them to share the precious grace they receive. Students are now deciding which vessels they will be, thus deciding eternal destiny. To be a vessel unto honor is to be willing to be fitted for angels' companionship, to do God's will and be converted daily, which will be crowned with glory and honor and eternal life, and such will work for school associates and others and show they may be relied on, refusing to be vessels unto dishonor.
Contrasting Characters of Vessels
In the great house some who are members of the church are vessels unto dishonor because they are not right before God, not cherishing the love and tender sympathies of Christ but remaining hard, denunciatory, overbearing critics who do not know by experience what true religion is. Selfishness and greed make them vessels of dishonor, and when those connected with the work retain selfishness and unsanctified principles they are not fit for honor. Such unclean, selfish people dishonor His name and cannot be used for His purposes, cannot be lights to the world nor faithful workers with God, for their conduct misrepresents the faith and can mislead others. Those who refuse to bring the will into agreement with God's will cannot be vessels for honor, for defective character and cherished wrong habits hinder usefulness by showing that grace has not been allowed to work in the heart, whereas becoming Christian means becoming Christlike and meeting God's conditions in trust in order to overcome.
Lifting up the soul unto vanity, speaking perverse things, and secretly cherishing roots of bitterness and a spirit of dissension unlike the Spirit of Christ disqualify a person from being a vessel unto honor. No one will be found as such a vessel while nurturing those roots of dissension and possessing a spirit unlike Christ's, and the frown of God will certainly rest upon every soul who cherishes and nurtures them. To be found a vessel unto honor in the time of the latter rain is to be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent to lighten the earth with His glory, and fitness for that work requires rejecting vanity, perverse speech, cherished bitterness and dissension and standing firm in principle in reflection of Christ. A life free from these things is required in order to receive the glory of God as a vessel of honor.
Children who do not overcome an inherited self-destroying appetite become vessels of dishonor unworthy of the company of saints in light. They are born with a natural tendency to evil habits such as drinking and smoking, having inherited the appetite from their fathers, and unless parents control their own appetites and tempers and make home life a strong fortification against temptation and ruin, that appetite will remain unconquered. By contrast, vessels unto honor have Christlike character marked by love, peace, unity and freedom from quarrelsome, hurtful speech, cleansed from impurity and fit for the Master's use. Human abilities and faculties are gifts from God to be valued, kept pure and holy and devoted to Him, and keeping capabilities pure makes a person useful as the Lord's helping hand, while continuing in sin makes the person a reproach who must repent and show recognition of sin's seriousness or be separated from the work. Those who work disinterestedly for Him are fit to be molded into vessels for honorable service.
Being a vessel unto honor means doing the important works of righteousness God requires and being ready to serve wherever He calls. Zeal for work God has not appointed can neglect that righteousness and leave the heart devoted to selfishness, self-exaltation and Pharisaism. It means correcting one's own wrongs and living and working in righteousness rather than condemning the church for its errors. The day of judgment will reveal the character of each person's work, and each will be rewarded accordingly.
Gifts and Service Assigned
The great house holds vessels of different sizes and capacities, picturing people with diverse gifts, capabilities and advantages lent by God to bring revenue to Him, and God does not expect a small vessel to hold as much as a large one, nor a Christian with few advantages to exercise abilities developed through greater opportunities, but each is responsible to use faithfully the gifts entrusted in his own sphere of work. God alone judges the capabilities of His servants and discerns the time and talents employed for Him, so men must not decide who has accomplished the most good or treat workers accordingly, for they often make serious mistakes when they do. Those entrusted with few talents, if faithful in work done as unto God and not to man, receive just as large a reward as one entrusted with many, while humble work that makes no great show counts for more than bustle and parade that calls attention to self, interposes self between the people and God, and proves a dead failure.
God works through those who are willing to serve humbly in trust, including people with limited religious or intellectual training, who when laboring humbly and trusting in Him can do useful work to save souls and be a blessing. He can use the smaller vessels as well as the larger, and those who put their trust in Him will not be disappointed, for He will put them where they can fill their place as opportunity now prepares for the home Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him. God knows just what kind of vessel He wants and what place each man is best fitted for, and to every man He has given his work, working a man into a vessel of honor when the man submits to be as clay in the hands of the potter. Those who devise and plan for themselves what God has withheld have a hard time with complaining, fretting and increased difficulties, and many working contrary to His will spoil the web, whereas the submissive under divine guidance are worked into oneness with Christ bearing His divine similitude, and when self submits and all cooperate with God, praying and working in unity each taking his place as threads in the web of life, they grow into a beautiful fabric that rejoices the universe.
Position does not make character honorable, for God must work on the willing and humble to shape them into vessels for honor, as Nebuchadnezzar's punishment humbled him to true conversion shown by willingness to repent rather than excuse himself because he was king. God's servants are human like earthen vessels with no grace or holiness of their own, though the treasure of the gospel is entrusted to them, and God alone can make them vessels of honor. Ministry is effective as God the eternal Spirit makes it effective, for human workers may plant and water but God alone gives the increase.
Readiness and Daily Application
To be found a vessel unto honor in the time of the latter rain is to be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent down to lighten the whole earth with his glory, to receive the glory of God. Vessels unto honor are those whose characters are transformed and who turn from sin, and they will receive the latter rain, while a refining process reveals the difference between the righteous who serve God and the wicked who do not. No one will be found as such a vessel while lifting the soul unto vanity, speaking perverse things, and in secret cherishing roots of bitterness and dissension and possessing a spirit unlike the Spirit of Christ, and the frown of God will certainly rest upon every soul who cherishes and nurtures those roots of dissension.
In this age when the corruption of the earth is as the corruption of Sodom and Gomorrah, God calls for faithful workers who are cleansed and sanctified to be fit vessels unto honor for the Lord's use. Moral deformity is not from God, for God is to be worshiped in the beauty of holiness as One excellent in majesty and power, and He cannot cooperate with those who are controlled by the enemy of truth and righteousness.
The second chapter of Second Timothy is to be impressed on the heart and brought into the practical life during a special effort to proclaim the truth. Church members must not remain self-satisfied, indifferent and backslidden while the Word is being presented, but must awake, search their own hearts, and confess and repent of sin found. They must be in good working order and in perfect harmony, clear the way with their means, be on hand at the meetings armed and equipped for service ready to talk with any who are interested, pray while going about daily duties, draw strength from Christ with deepest gratitude, and pray and work for the lost sheep as laborers together with Him in sustaining the work being done.
The verse is given to be studied and practiced to gain a sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, to behold Jesus and be changed into His image, and to resist the devil and draw nigh to God. It calls for guarding the barriers of the soul every moment against debasing sins that wreck mind and character and eat away affection, for turning from the path of those who do wickedly without building up self in self-righteousness over those overcome, and for becoming fully on the side of God as a co-worker with Him to rescue souls from death and hide a multitude of sins.
The same distinction of honorable and dishonorable vessels in a great house applies to doctors and nurses in the profession of healing, which is pictured as a great house needing to be purified and shaped after the example of the Healer. A person becomes a vessel for honorable use by purging himself from corrupting influences, becoming sanctified and fit for the Master's use and prepared for good work, since material mingled with false or ungodly teaching can lead students away from truth. Becoming a vessel unto honor requires the transforming influence of the Spirit of God fashioning the heart daily, and teachers must be so fashioned and must strictly guard order and discipline. Even small departures from the rules, such as taking liberties with food, eating indulgent meals denied to students, and laughing at correction and undermining the matron, exert a demoralizing influence on students and counteract right influence unless there is reform, for without feeling need and maintaining living connection with God the school God has marked out cannot be established after His order rather than the common order of schools.
Becoming a vessel unto honor is a home experience gained by dying to self so Jesus can shape the character. It means staying at home to pray instead of telling neighbors about home difficulties and seeking sympathy for manufactured grievances, surrendering the perverse will to God, falling on the Rock and being broken, and being crucified to self while Christ lives in the soul. It then means cherishing sincere and noble affections that give fragrance to the character and appear in consistent words and actions, so that religion manifested in the home spreads its influence to the church and the neighborhood.
A self-indulgent young man with wrong habits can be made a vessel unto honor by giving his heart to God fully, wholly, without any reserve, by improving his entrusted talents through diligent service, and by wearing Christ's yoke to find rest to his soul. Being made a vessel of honor is a daily conversion to the Master's use for that one day, for each morning God takes every Christian and sets him apart as He wills to do His work for that day, as a vessel is taken and set apart to hold a particular article of food. Spending the abilities and capabilities of that day to the glory of God makes a vessel of honor, without acting as though a lifetime or many years remain and earnestness can wait. Being converted every day keeps youth safe in the colleges of the land, while feeling at liberty to be off guard for one day leaves them overcome by Satan's snares and led to walk in false, forbidden paths the Lord has not cast up.